WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER I7I 



Catchenil ; for Conaripe, Antiimelia ; for Calefquen, Katriel ; for 

 Ancacomoya, Marico Wetra ; for Huitag, Dario Caniupan. 



At present a man may legitimately hold the office of cacique be- 

 cause he has inherited it, and the people may recognize him as their 

 leader, but unless the Chilean authorities also recognize him as the 

 cacique, his position is weak. In all areas this was spoken of. A non- 

 Araucanian noted that as recently as 1940 the Chilean Government 

 gave full support to the two caciques in Alepue area, Andres Lienlaf 

 and Jose Martin, two highly respected old men, but that the word of 

 those who have succeeded them seems to carry less weight. 



Rosamel Antiimelia, the 38-year-old cacique of Conaripe, who was 

 recognized by his people as their cacique, told of the formal recognition 

 by the Chilean Government : "The last recognized cacique for Cona- 

 ripe was my father, Carlos Antiimelia. He died in 1942 ; he was older 

 than 100 years then. My grandfather, great-grandfather, and their 

 fathers before them had all been caciques. Always a son of a previous 

 cacique was recognized as the cacique. A brother older than myself 

 should have been the cacique at my father's death. He was better 

 educated than I am and he had had experience in matters of ruling the 

 people which I have not had — he had helped my father in such mat- 

 ters. But this brother died. Then I became my father's interpreter — 

 my father did not speak Spanish. When my father died, the people 

 here recognized me as their cacique. I was also encouraged to be 

 their cacique by a Chilean who built the road through here. He told 

 me to fill my father's place as cacique so that the Mapuche here would 

 not be without a head. However, before I am established in the posi- 

 tion, I must receive notification from the Chilean Government — and 

 here is how this is being done : The Chilean who represents our in- 

 terests in Pitrufquen in the court of justice for Indians there must 

 refer the matter to the Government officials in Valdivia responsible 

 for Indian problems ; this, I believe, he has done. The governor of the 

 Province of Valdivia — we live in the Province of Valdivia — will be in- 

 formed of the matter and will probably approve of it. His approval 

 will be returned to me through the Chilean offices of Lanco and then 

 those of Panguipulli — Conaripe is in the Panguipulli subdelegacion. 

 I will then be notified, and after that I am the cacique." 



In the interim, however, he functioned as the cacique. He called a 

 meeting of the men of his witran mapu for February 9, 1947, to dis- 

 cuss the division of land owned in common by them, and also to take 

 action regarding the trespassing on the land by men from another 

 witran mapu. More than 50 men from Conaripe and Lliuco met — 

 men of all ages, including very old men and some teen-agers. No 



