Colocolo (tribal chief)

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Colocolo (from mapudungun "colocolo", mountain cat; b. 1490 – d. 1555) was a Mapuche leader ("cacique lonco"). He held the position of "Toqui de la Paz" (Peace Chief) but took over strategic duties when Spanish conquest began, becoming the head of the native Mapuche forces against invaders.

He succeeded Caupolican as commander-in-chief of the Mapuche army in 1551 and, alongside him and Lautaro, he directed mapuche warriors at Battle of Tucapel (1553), in which Spanish army, led by Pedro de Valdivia, was defeated. In 1559 he signed a treaty with the Spaniards, but did not comply with it and died in the Battle of Lomaco. Some others believe his death happened during the great famine and typhoid fever wave on the drought of 1555-1558.

Remembered as a 60-something elder widely respected by mapuche people, among his captains we can find headchiefs whose names are part of Chile's present geography: Paicabí, Lemo, Lincoyán, Elicura y Orompello, just to name a few.

Chile's most popular football club, Colo-Colo, was named after this warrior.