Juan Lorenzo Colipí () was a

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

lonco A lonko or lonco (from Mapudungun ''longko'', literally "head"), is a chief of several Mapuche communities. These were often ulmen, the wealthier men in the lof. In wartime, lonkos of the various local rehue or the larger aillarehue would gather ...

active in the politics and warfare in Araucanía in the first half of the 19th century. He participated in the

Guerra a muerte ''Guerra a muerte'' (lit. English: ''War to the death'') is a term coined by Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna and used in Chilean historiography to describe the irregular, no-quarter warfare that broke out in 1819 during the Chilean War of Independ ...

(1819–1821) phase of the

Chilean Independence War The Chilean War of Independence (Spanish: ''Guerra de la Independencia de Chile'', 'War of Independence of Chile') was a military and political event that allowed the emancipation of Chile from the Spanish Monarchy, ending the colonial period ...

. The influence of Colipí stemmed from his role as an intermediary between various Mapuche tribes and Chilean authorities. In 1834–35 he launched a large

malón ''Malón'' (from the Mapuche language, Mapudungun ''maleu,'' to inflict damage to the enemy) is the name given to plunder raids carried out by Mapuche warriors, who rode horses into Spanish, Chilean and Argentine territories from the 17th to th ...

against Juan Mañil, that temporarily weakened Mañil's faction. Colipí's use of Chilean soldiers in his raids against rival Mapuches created much resentment. His role as broker between Mapuche and Chilean authorities declined as

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

and Capuchin missionaries began to assume that role in the 1840s. At the time of his death, he was said to have lost much of the influence he once held among Mapuches. His death in 1850 was said to have been by poisoning ordered by rival chief Juan Mañil. He was succeeded as lonco by his son Pedro Colipí, who was killed by the men of Mañil in 1852.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colipi, Juan Lorenzo 19th-century Mapuche people 19th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas People from Araucanía Region Lonkos 1850 deaths People of the Chilean War of Independence

See also

References