Galvarino: Defiance Without Hands

Mid-1500s. Southern Chile. The Mapuche people have fought Spanish conquest for decades.

Spain cannot break them. So they turn to terror. Galvarino was a

Mapuche warrior. During battle, the Spanish captured him alive. They did not execute

him. They had a different plan. They cut off both his hands.

Then they released him. Sent him home. A living warning to his people.

Galvarino returned. Wounded. Mutilated. The Spanish expected surrender.

They got the opposite. He demanded to fight again. According to Spanish chroniclers themselves,

Galvarino returned to battle with blades bound to his forearms. Not spectacle. Refusal.