Butalmapu or Fütalmapu is the name inMapudungun for "great land", which were one of the great confederations wherein theMapuche people organized themselves in case of war. These confederations corresponded to the great geographic areas inhabited by the Mapuches inChile.
At the beginning of theconquest of Chile it is thought that there was a Butalmapu among thePicunche from theLimari River south to the vicinity of theMataquito River that was headed by aMichimalonco.[1] Also at the beginning of the conquest of Chile, aMoluche Butalmapu, (name unknown), existed south of theItata River and north of theBio Bio River.[2] It may have included the aillurehue of the Cauquenes north of the Itata, who occasionally fought with them against the Spanish in the sixteenth century and earlier against theInca in theBattle of the Maule.
Among theMoluche south of theBio Bio River there were by the seventeenth century, three Butalmapu, that conformed with the main territorial identities of the Moluche:Lafkenmapu, the coastal region,Lelfünmapu the plains of theIntermediate Depression andInapiremapu the foothills of theAndes. One otherPiremapu in theAndes mountain range, was inhabited by thePehuenches.[3]
Each butalmapu was made up of several smaller confederations;aillarehues, that were made up of a number of familial clans of the same region, known aslofs. In case of an external danger or the beginning of a military campaign, theloncos (caciques) of all the lofs chose a supreme military leader of the Butalmapu, called theToqui and Gran Toqui by the Spaniards. This leader had the right to make military decisions and usually only left his position when the campaign finished or he died. Butalmapus were not described as such in Spanish chronicles until theCautiverio feliz y razón individual de las guerras dilatadas del reino de Chile, ofFrancisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán, where an account of these confederations first occurred. They were called by Núñez “utanmapu”.[4]
Among theHuilliche andCuncos to the south of the Moluche there were two Butalmapu:Willimapu located in between theToltén River and theBueno River and theChawra kawin located between the Bueno River and theReloncaví Sound.[5] By 1805 these were consolidated into just one,Huillimapu.[6]
