Before the war against the Spaniards, the Mapuches engaged in tribal warfare, using weapons such as bow and arrows, spears, slingshots, stone balls and mace made of wood or stone, known as macanas.
The War Covenant among the different local groups was ratified in a ceremony where a black llama was sacrificed, and its blood drained. The meat was pierced with spears and arrows and it was then eaten to celebrate the alliance. The winning party either kept their enemies as slaves, or killed them. Defeated chiefs were decapitated, hanging their heads on spears. Victory was celebrated in an open field around a Canelo tree. Around this sacred tree, men and women danced covered with animal skins. They danced, ate and drank large amounts of maqui or corn beer. During the war against the Spanish Conquest, arose the Aillarewe, a more complex social organization led by a Toki, or military leader. Father Luis de Valdivia uses the term rewe to designate a local group and aillirewe, nine rewes, to refer to the wider group.