Ruka (house type)

[1] Travellers in the first half of the 20th century compared the housing conditions of rukas favourably to the tenements of Santiago and the countryside cottages of non-Mapuche Chilean farmers.

It has one principal entrance which faces East, expressing the Mapuche cosmological preference for Pwelmapu or Puel mapu, their eastern homelands.

There are beds to the sides, and in the center is the hearth or kütralwe, which serves to cook food, light, and heat the ruca.

The smoke, carrying grease from cooked foods, coat the interior of the ruca over time, creating a protective layer.

[citation needed] Historically, when they wanted to construct a ruca, a Mapuche would request permission from the spirit Ngen-mapu so as to establish themself in this place, and they would notify a superior to inform the rest of the community.