A lonko or lonco (from

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

''longko'', literally "head"), is a chief of several

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

communities. These were often

ulmen Ulmen is a town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a kind of collective municipality – to which it also belongs. Geography Location The town lies in the Eife ...

, the wealthier men in the

lof Lof (Spanish: ''levo'' and ''lov'') or caví (Spanish: ''cahuín''); formed the basic social organization of the Mapuche, Mapuche-Huilliche and the extinct Picunche peoples, consisting of a familial clan or lineage that recognizes the authority o ...

. In wartime, lonkos of the various local rehue or the larger aillarehue would gather in a koyag or parliament and would elect a toqui to lead the warriors in battle. ''Lonco'' sometimes forms part of geographical names such as the city of Loncoche (English: "head of an important person").

References

Mapuche History of Chile * Titles of national or ethnic leadership Mapuche words and phrases {{Chile-stub