Alejandro de Vivar (1635–1660), better known as Mestizo Alejo, was a Chilean

mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

, who fought in the Arauco War. He was the son of the Mapuche

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 ...

Curivilú and the Spanish Isabel de Vivar y Castro who was captured during a Mapuche raid. Isabel and Alejo were rescued five years later and rejoined the Spanish society. Alejo enlisted the Spanish army, but the system of

casta () is a term which means "lineage" in Spanish and Portuguese and has historically been used as a racial and social identifier. In the context of the Spanish America, Spanish Empire in the Americas it also refers to a now-discredited 20th-centu ...

s prevented his promotion. As a result, he deserted from the Spanish army and joined the Mapuches, being appointed toqui. Instructed in Spanish military strategy, he posed a serious threat to his former masters, but he died in a crime of passion: after he had sex with a captured Spanish woman his two wives murdered him.

Biography

Alejandro Vivar, Isabel's father, was a Spanish soldier in the Captaincy General of Chile during the Arauco War against the Mapuches. He led an incursion into Mapuche territory and was ambushed by them. Isabel was captured and engaged to the cacique Curivilú.Inostroza Rojas: ''El mestizo Alejo, ¿Un nuevo Lautaro?'' She had a son with him, known as "Alejandro de Vivar" by the Spanish and "Ñancú" by the Mapuche; but he used the diminutive form of the name "Alejo" instead. Isabel and Alejo were rescued by the Spanish five years after Isabel's capture and returned to Concepción. However, the

caste system Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

of the local population meant they were looked down on: Alejo was rejected as a

, and Isabel for having a son with a Mapuche. To avoid the social criticism, Isabel became a nun and lived inside a convent. Alejo was raised by Franciscans and eventually joined the military. Alejo trained as arquebusier, but he was denied any promotion as he was a mestizo. As a result, he deserted from the Spanish army in 1657 and joined the Mapuche.El mestizo Alejo
Alejo returned to the tribe of his father. The Mapuche had a more welcoming attitude towards mestizos than the Spanish, and accepted him. Alejo was valuable to the Mapuches as he had close knowledge of the Spanish military strategy. He informed his father about his life among the Spanish (known as "huincas" by the Mapuches), and expressed his willingness to serve with the Mapuche against them. As the new toqui, Alejo increased espionage activity and intensified the raids of malones to steal cattle, weapons and capture hostages. He introduced the use of

incendiary device Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...

s to Mapuche warfare, which proved deadly against the city of Concepción. To prevent the complete destruction of the city, the Spanish sent Isabel to parley with him. Alejo agreed to stop the attack because of his love for his mother, but said "''Mother, it will be very difficult for those arrogant ''huincas'' to look you in the eyes. They are haughty enough to humiliate mestizos, but they are cowards incapable of defending themselves and have to resort to using a woman to parley with the enemy in their name, while they are surely trembling behind those walls''. The other Mapuche were unwilling to stop the attack, but Alejo quickly silenced the objections by splitting open the head of one of the enraged Mapuche with an axe. Alejo continued his march and destroyed the forts of Conuco and Chepe completely. He then massacred the populations of Talcamavida and Santa Juana. He celebrated one of his victories by getting drunk and having sex with a captured Spanish woman. This angered his Mapuche wives who attacked and killed him while he was sleeping, and then escaped to a Spanish fort. The Spanish welcomed them and gave them asylum.

In popular media

Víctor Domingo Silva Víctor Domingo Silva Endeiza (May 12, 1882, Tongoy, Elqui Province – August 20, 1960, Santiago) was a Chilean poet, journalist, playwright and writer. He was of Basque descent by mother's side. Silva was born into an educated family who ...

wrote a historical novel about Alejo, "El mestizo Alejo y la Criollita". The life of Alejo was portrayed in a Chilean historical comic written in 1973, as part of a number of historical comic books about the history of Chile from the colonization to the '' Patria vieja''. The episode "El mestizo Alejo" was published in issues 178 to 184, with art and scripts by

Luis Ruiz Tagle Luis Ruiz Tagle (born 28 July 1898, date of death unknown) was a Chilean sports shooter. He competed in the 50 m pistol event at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as ...

.El Mestizo Alejo (L. Ruiz Tagle)
The actor Diego Ruiz took part in the documentary film ''

Algo habrán hecho por la historia de Chile ''Algo habrán hecho por la historia de Chile'' ( es, They sure did something for the history of Chile) is a documentary television miniseries that narrates the history of Chile. It has the format of the Argentine documentary film '' Algo habrán ...

'', playing Alejo. The documentary was produced during the Bicentennial of Chile.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alejo, Mestizo 17th-century Mapuche people Chilean people of Mapuche descent Captaincy General of Chile Mestizo people People of the Arauco War Indigenous leaders of the Americas Indigenous military personnel of the Americas Assassinated military personnel Toquis 1660 deaths 1635 births