Jacinto Collahuazo (born circa 1670; lived past the age of 80, but exact date of death is unknown) was a

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...

Otavalo, Ecuador Otavalo, capital of Otavalo Canton, has a population largely made up of the Otavalo indigenous group. It is located in Imbabura Province of Ecuador. According to the 2010 census, the town has 39,354 inhabitants and has an elevation of . It i ...

. He was a Quichuan poet and historian. He was imprisoned by the Spanish for writing a book in Quechua about the war between Huascar and

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa (Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c. 1502 – 26-29 July 1533) was the last Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca (sovereign emperor) of the Inca Empir ...

titled ''History of the civil wars of Atahualpa and his brother Atoco, known commonly as Huascar Inca''. Collahuazo learned to read and write in Spanish, but his work was written in Quechua. The Spanish magistrate of Ibarra could not accept the notion that a native could read and write, or write knowledgeably about history. He ordered Collahuazo arrested, mandated that he destroy his work in public, and sent him to prison where he would spend his final days. In 1708, Collahuazo fulfilled the mandate and burned all of his work publicly. The existence of his literary work came to light centuries later, when a crew of masons restoring the walls of a colonial church in

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

found a hidden manuscript. The salvaged fragment is a Spanish translation from Quechua of the "Elegy to the Dead of Atahualpa", a poem written by Collahuazo that describes the sadness and impotence felt by the Inca people having lost their king Atahualpa.

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* * Ecuadorian literature History of Ecuador Quechua-language poets Quechua people Year of birth uncertain {{Ecuador-bio-stub