Among the indigenous Mapuche people of Chile, there are those that practice traditional polygamy. In modern Chile polygamy has no legal recognition.[1] This puts women whose marriages to their husbands are not legally recognized at a disadvantage in relation to the legal wife who is, in terms of securing inheritance.[1] Polygamy is much less common today in comparison with the time preceding the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883), when the traditional Mapuche homeland was brought under control of the Chilean government.[1] It survives as a chiefly rural practice, but has also been reported in the low-income peripheral communities of Santiago.[2][3] Wives who share the same husband are often relatives, such as sisters, who live in the same community.[1] According to hearsay, polyandry among the Mapuche is reputed to exist at least historically,[4] in which case the husbands may have been brothers,[5][6] but no documentation exists attesting to this phenomenon. It is also in contradiction to the renewal of the warrior ethos (weichan) promoted by militant Mapuche organizations such as Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco.[5][6]