This ethnohistorical paper covers the period from 1550, the year when Pedro de Valdivia crossed for the second time the river Biobío to enter the Araucanía, until 1662, when the Spanish Crown issued a "Real Despacho" (Real Edict), to grant a general indult to rebel indians. This paper aims at collecting data in historical sources about the pacific or confltctíve relations between europeans and mapuches (local aborigen). It is intented to inform about the causes of the araucan uprightins, superposition of the indian hispanic institutions, slavery, moving of peoples, racial prejudices, decrease of population, halfbreeding (mestizaje) and international projection of the araucan war.