Casimiro Biguá

Casimiro Biguá
Cacique of the southern Tehuelche people from the Strait of Magellan and the Patagonian coast
PredecessorMaría la Grande
DiedPatagonia
NationalityTehuelche
MotherMaría la Grande

Casimiro Biguá was a 19th-century Tehuelche cacique in Patagonia. He opposed the Chilean colonization of the Strait of Magellan and in the 1860s he entered an alliance with Argentine authorities. In a bid to establish Argentine sovereignty over the strait Argentine "ad-hoc agent" Luis Piedra Buena brought Biguá to Buenos Aires where met President Bartolomé Mitre and was declared lieutenant colonel of the Argentine Army and granted a salary accordingly.[1] In 1866 he signed a treaty with Argentine authorities where the Tehuelche were recognized as Argentine citizens and Argentine sovereignty up to the strait of Magellan was declared.[2] The influence of Casimiro Biguá in political affairs declined in the late 1860s.[2]

He was known for his deference to English travellers and sea-farers.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Martinic 1977, p. 142.
  2. ^ a b Martinic 1977, p. 143.
  3. ^ Melo, Walter D.; Scordo, Facundo; Perillo, Gerardo M. E.; Píccolo, M. Cintia (2017). "Identificación del lago "Coluguape" en la cartografía histórica (1775-1898): Su vinculación con el lago Buenos aires-General Carrera y el sistema lacustre Musters-Colhue Huapi" [Identification of the "Coluguape" lake in historical cartography (1775-1898): Its connection to the Buenos Aires-General Carrera lake and Musters- Colhue Huapi lake system]. Magallania (in Spanish). 45 (1): 15–33. doi:10.4067/S0718-22442017000100015. hdl:11336/27464.

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