colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

and early republican

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

comisario de naciones was a government official that mediated between indigenous and the

Spanish Crown , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

, later authorities of the Republic of Chile replaced the Spanish in the mediation chain. The comisario de naciones would hear the concerns of local

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 ...

s and bring the issues to relevant authorities. Each comisario de naciones was charged with the oversight of various capitanes de amigos. Invitations to the parliaments held between the

Governor of Chile The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the 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 were 66 such governors or captains du ...

and indigenous authorities were granted by comisarios de naciones. In the mid-19th century the functions of the comisario de naciones begun to be overtaken by ordinary judges. This put

Huilliche The Huilliche , Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group of Chile. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco subgroup, the north hal ...

Futahuillimapu Futahuillimapu or Fütawillimapu is a traditional territory of the Huilliche people. Futahuillimapu spans the land between Bueno River and Reloncaví Sound. Futahuillimapu means "great land of the south." Back in the 18th century when this territ ...

in great disadvantage as their lands were coveted by non-indigenous Chileans and German settlers and the ordinary judges had scant knowledge of indigenous properties and rights.

References

{{reflist History of the Captaincy General of Chile Huilliche history Legal history of Chile Legal history of Spain Mapuche history Diplomats by role Legal professions Titles