Pelantaro or Pelantarú (; from ) was one of the vice toquis of

Paillamachu Paillamachu (died 1604), was the Mapuche toqui from 1592 to 1603 in what is now Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, ...

, the ''

toqui Toqui (or Toki) (Mapudungun for ''axe'' or ''axe-bearer'') is a title conferred by the Mapuche (an indigenous Chilean and Argentines, Argentinian people) on those chosen as leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parl ...

'' or military leader of the Mapuche people during the Mapuche uprising in 1598. Pelantaro and his lieutenants Anganamon and Guaiquimilla were credited with the death of the second Spanish

Governor of Chile The royal governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the royal governor also held the title of a captain general. There w ...

, Martín García Óñez de Loyola, during the Battle of Curalaba on December 21, 1598. This provoked a general rising of the Mapuche and the other indigenous people associated with them. They succeeded in destroying all of the Spanish settlements south of the Bio-bio River and some to the north of it ( Santa Cruz de Oñez and San Bartolomé de Chillán in 1599). After this actions, the following Governor, Alonso de Ribera, fixed a border and took the suggestions of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Luis de Valdivia to fight a defensive war. At one point, Pelantaro had both the heads of

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...

and Martín Óñez de Loyola and used them as trophies and containers for ''

chicha ''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...

'', a kind of alcohol. As a demonstration of peaceful intentions, he gave them up in 1608. Pelantaro was captured in 1616 and held for a year and a half until after the death of the governor Alonso de Ribera. He was released by his successor Fernando Talaverano Gallegos in a vain attempt to establish a peace with the Mapuche.

Sources

* ''Colección de documentos inéditos para la Historia de Chile, segunda serie, tomo VII, 1600–1606, Primer gobierno de Alonso de Rivera'', publicadas por el Fondo Histórico y Bibliográfico de J. T. Medina, Santiago de Chile, 1982. * Crescente Errázuriz,
''Seis años de la historia de Chile (23 de diciembre de 1598 – 9 de abril de 1605), Tomo I y II,'' Imprenta Nacional, 1882–1908.
* Alonso González de Nájera
''Desengaño y reparo de la guerra de Chile'', Editorial Andrés Bello, Santiago de Chile, 1971.
* Diego Ocaña, ''Viaje a Chile: relación del viaje a Chile, año de 1600, contenida en la crónica de viaje intitulada “A través de la América del Sur”'', Colección Escritores Coloniales, Editorial Universitaria, 1era. Edición, Santiago de Chile, 1995. * Alonso de Ovalle
'' Histórica relación del Reino de Chile y de las misiones y ministerios que ejercita en él la Compañía de Jesús ...'', Reproducción digital de la edición de Roma, Francisco Caballo, 1646, Alicante : Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2007
* Roger Arteaga Ce
PELANTARO: el gran toqui de Purén
16th-century births 17th-century deaths 16th-century Mapuche people 16th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas 17th-century Mapuche people People of the Arauco War Indigenous warriors of the Americas {{Chile-hist-stub

See also

Sources