- Sepé Tiaraju
Sepé Tiaraju was an indigenous
Guarani leader born (no date available) in theJesuit mission of São Luiz Gonzaga and who died onFebruary 7 ,1756 , in the municipality of São Gabriel, in the present-day state ofRio Grande do Sul ,Brazil .Sepé Tiaraju led the fight against the Portuguese and Spanish colonial powers in the "Guerras Guaraníticas" (
Guarani War ) and was killed together with around fifteen hundred of his fellow warriors. After two hundred and fifty years of the date of his death he still remains a very influential figure in the popular imagination, considered asaint by some.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 the prospect of returning to the forests was not considered an option 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 ,Paraguay andArgentina 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 ofcattle in all ofLatin America . Therefore, the Europeans' interests in the area extended beyond land appropriations.Sepé Tiaraju was immortalized in the letters by Brazilian writer
Basílio da Gama in the epic poem "O Uraguay" (1769 ). The expression and battle cry "Esta terra tem dono!" (or "This land has owners!") is attributed to Sepé Tiaraju.ee also
*
Nheçu
*Roque González de Santa Cruz External links
* [http://www.terrabrasileira.net/folclore/regioes/3contos/sepe.html Sepé Tiaraju] (in Portuguese)
* [http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/brazil/3774.html Guarani Indians United] (in English)
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
