Sepé Tiaraju ( – 7 February 1756) was a Guaraní leader in the

Jesuit reduction Reductions (, also called ; ) were settlements established by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such reductions were also c ...

mission of

São Luiz Gonzaga São Luiz Gonzaga ( Portuguese for St. Aloysius Gonzaga) is a municipality of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Its population is 33,293 (2020 est.) in an area of 1295,68 km2. It was founded in the 17th century as a Jesuit mission t ...

Advocacy and death

Sepé Tiaraju led the fight against the Portuguese and Spanish colonial powers in the ''Guerras Guaraníticas'' ( Guarani War) and was killed three days before a massacre that killed around fifteen hundred of his fellow soldiers. After 250 years of the date of his death he still remains a very influential figure in the popular imagination and a

folk saint Folk saints are dead people or other spiritually powerful entities (such as indigenous spirits) venerated as saints, but not officially canonization, canonized. Since they are saints of the "folk", or the ''populus'', they are also called popular s ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

. This conflict in South America resulted from the land demarcations established by the European powers with the '' Tratado de Madrid'' (1750). According to this treaty the Guarani population inhabiting the Jesuit missions in the region had to be evacuated. After one hundred and fifty years living a unique communal life, neither the prospect of returning to the forests nor moving to another place were considered as options by most mission Guaranis. Further treaties such as the San Idelfonso Treaty (1777) and the Badajoz Treaty (1801) still grappled with issues related to this topic. The Christianized Guarani population residing in the Jesuit missions (called ''missões'' or ''reduções'', in Portuguese), that is in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Paraguay and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

combined, is estimated to have numbered approximately eighty thousand at the start of the conflict. At that time these so-called ''evangelized'' Guaranis – as opposed to the many Guaranis living the traditional way and not in the Jesuit missions – raised what is believed to have been the largest herd of cattle in all of Latin America. Therefore, the Europeans' interests in the area extended beyond land appropriations.

Legacy

Sepé Tiaraju was immortalized in the letters by Brazilian writer Basílio da Gama in the epic poem '' O Uraguai'' (1769) and in the poem ''O Lunar de Sepé'', collected by Simões Lopes Neto and published in the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, he has been a character in many major literary works, like ''O tempo e o vento'' The time and the wind" by Erico Verissimo. The expression and battle cry ''Esta terra tem dono!'', sometimes quoted in Guarani ''Co ivi oguerecó iara'' ("This land has owners!" in English), is attributed to Sepé Tiaraju. Sepé Tiaraju Airport, in Santo Ângelo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil is named after Sepé Tiaraju. The idea of initialising a

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

process for Sepé Tiaraju emerged in the 1970s. In 2018, the Catholic Church started the process of beatification, declaring Sepé a

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

References

External links

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Guarani Indians United
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiaraju, Sepe 18th-century Brazilian people Brazilian people of Guarani descent People from Rio Grande do Sul Date of birth unknown 1756 deaths 18th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas Brazilian Servants of God Folk saints Guaraní people Indigenous people of the Gran Chaco Brazilian Roman Catholics