At the regular election in 1910, Don Raymon Barros Luco was elected to
the presidency.
INDIANS
The indigenous races of Chile consist of the following tribes:
Araucanians, Chilotes, Chonos, Onas, Fueginos, Yahgans, Alacalupes and
Patagonians.
The Araucanians, the most powerful, brave, and warlike tribe of South
American Indians, formerly occupied all the territory now constituting
the northern half of Chile. In the Araucanians the Spaniards met a
strong resistance to their invasion of the territory. The tribe then
numbered one million, and for three hundred and fifty years they
maintained a warfare against the occupation of their country by white
men. The Spaniards were unable to subdue them, and even after the war
of independence and the establishment of the Republic, they maintained
a hostile attitude. Although being gradually and peacefully subjugated
they still maintain a sort of independence, living under a form of
government agreeable to their common tribal laws and customs. They are
now generally engaged in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture.
The Araucanian government consists of a confederation constituted by
the union of three independent tribes, each of which is governed by
a hereditary chief, called Toqui, or Cacique. A few years ago the
territory was divided into sub-districts, for each of which there is
a subordinate chief. The Caciques are elected by their respective
tribes. They hold armed diets, like the ancient Poles and Germans. In
the formation of laws governing their actions, and determining upon
military operations, every member of the confederation has a vote.
In more recent years these erstwhile savages have manifested a friendly
disposition towards foreigners, some of whom have been admitted to
membership in their tribes. These “white Indians,” who usually possess
superior intelligence, education and knowledge of the world, sometimes
rise to eminence among the tribes. A French lawyer named De Tonneins,
once humbugged the Indians into believing in his alleged magical and
spiritual attainments to such an extent that the Araucanian tribes
proclaimed him king, which distinction he assumed under the title of
King Orelie Antonio I, and reigned for several years. The small court
by which he was surrounded paid him great deference. His Fraudulent
Highness made war against the Chilean government, was captured and
deported to his native country, where after several uneventful years,
he died in an asylum in Bordeaux.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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