Legal and legitimate or abusive and self-interested? The enslavement of the indigenous people of Valdivia and Osorno after the general uprising (Chile, 1598-1615)

Abstract

This article studies the process of enslavement of the indigenous people from the territories associated to the cities of Valdivia and Osorno after the general uprising that shook Chile in 1598 and during the first two decades of the 17th century. It’s proposed that during those years they set up, on the initiative of the Spanish commanders and soldiers settled in the Carelmapu and Calbuco forts and regardless of it being legal or not, a true machine of capturing indigenous women, children and men, many of which had been part of the original allies of the conquerors before and during the general uprising. They were transported by boat to the areas of Concepción, Santiago and even Peru for their sale in quantities that reached hundreds of them per trip. Regarding this the names of Spanish captors, shippers and consignees repeat, which demonstrates that this was an action that went far beyond a particular occasion to become a regular activity and that it involved an important number of human and economic resources.