extinct Indian people of South America who inhabited an area bounded on the west by the Andes and on the east by the Pampas, in the present-day province of Mendoza, Argentina. They engaged in hunting and gathering to supplement their marginal agriculture. Huarpe settlements were usually found along rivers and lakes or in places where irrigation was possible. Each settlement was headed by a chieftain. The family consisted of a man and one or more wives. They worshipped a god, Hunuc Huar, who lived in the mountains, as well as the Sun, the Moon, the morning star, and the hills. The population was never very large. Deportation to Chile as industrial labourers contributed to their extinction in the early 18th century.