Melirupu is a place in
Arauco Province that is 12 kilometers to the Southwest of
Arauco in the direction of
Quiapo. It was a small village of about 300 inhabitants in the late 19th century the surrounding land had the same name. The
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 ...
name, formed of and the alteration of , means "four ways", it later became known as ''Millarupu'' "gold way", and was corrupted into Millarapu or Millarapue or Melirupo.
This place was one of the
rehues of the
Moluche aillarehue of Arauco and the site of the
Battle of Millarapue
The Battle of Millarapue that occurred November 30, 1557 was intended by the Toqui Caupolicán as a Mapuche ambush of the Spanish army of García Hurtado de Mendoza that resulted in a Spanish victory when the ambush failed.
History
After the vic ...
where the
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 ...
Toqui Caupolicán
Caupolicán (meaning ‘polished flint’ (queupu) or ‘blue quartz stone’ (Kallfulikan) in Mapudungun) was a ''toqui'' or war leader of the Mapuche people, who led the resistance of his people against the Spanish Conquistadors who invaded the ...
was defeated after he assaulted the camp of Governor Don
Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza on November 30, 1557.
Sources
Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile (Geographic dictionary of the Republic of Chile), Segunda Edición Corregida y Aumentada, Nueva York, D. Appleton y Compañía, 1899.pp. 439-40
Geography of Biobío Region
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