Futahuillimapu, or Fütawillimapu, is a traditional territory of the

Huilliche people The Huilliche (), Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group in Chile and Argentina. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco or Ve ...

. Futahuillimapu spans the land between

Bueno River The Bueno River (Spanish: ''Río Bueno'') is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms t ...

and

Reloncaví Sound Reloncaví Sound or ''Seno de Reloncaví'' is a body of water immediately south of Puerto Montt, a port city in the Los Lagos Region of Chile. It is the place where the Chilean Central Valley meets the Pacific Ocean. The Calbuco Archipelago comp ...

. Futahuillimapu means "great land of the south". Back in the 18th century when this territory was free of foreign rule its western part, corresponding to the

Chilean Coast Range The Chilean Coastal Range () is a mountain range that runs from north to south along the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America parallel to the Andes, Andean Mountains, extending from Morro de Arica in the north to Taitao Peninsula, where ...

and its foothills was inhabited by so-called

Cuncos Cuncos, Juncos or Cunches is a poorly known subgroup of Huilliche people native to coastal areas of southern Chile and the nearby hinterland. Mostly a historic term, Cuncos are chiefly known for their long-running conflict with the Spanish durin ...

while proper Huilliches lived in the flatlands of the eastern portion corresponding to the Central Valley. After the destruction of Osorno in 1602 Futahuillimapu and the whole area between

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

and the settlements of Calbuco and Carelmapu remained independent indigenous territory closed to the Spanish. The Spanish had thus little information on this territory and had to rely on hearsay. This lack of concrete knowledge of the territory fueled speculations about the

mythical Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

City of the Caesars The City of the Caesars (Spanish Ciudad de los Césares), also variously known as ''City of Patagonia'', ''the Wandering City'', ''Trapalanda'' or ''Trapananda'', ''Lin Lin'' or ''Elelín'', is a mythical city of South America. It was supposedly ...

. The territory was ravaged by a Spanish militia in 1792. The next year the Spanish-Huilliche Parliament of Las Canoas was held. In this official meeting local chiefs had to accept the incorporation of Futahuillimapu to the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

and allow the Spanish to reestablish the city of Osorno. Soon after the reestablishment of Osorno nearby Huilliche lands begun to be coveted by the new settlers whose purchase of land was only occasionally objected by local governor Juan Mackenna. In the mid-19th century these settlers were joined by new ones from Germany whom the Huilliche called ''leupe lonko'' (blond heads). Loss of lands by the Huilliche in the 19th century was often related to scams,

language barrier A language barrier is a figurative phrase used primarily to refer to linguistic barriers to communication, i.e. the difficulties in communication experienced by people or groups originally speaking different languages (or different dialects in ...

s, and the decline of legal framework, such as the comisario de naciones, that protected indigenous interest. As result of Chilean and German settlers settling around

in the 19th century, Huilliches living in the Central Valley migrated to the coastal region of Osorno.

References

{{coord missing, Chile Geography of Los Lagos Region History of Los Lagos Region Historical regions Huilliche Mapuche regions