Casimiro Biguá was a 19th-century Tehuelche cacique in Patagonia. He opposed the Chilean colonization of the Strait of Magellan and in the 1860s he entered an alliance with Argentine authorities. In a bid to establish Argentine sovereignty over the strait Argentine "ad-hoc agent" Luis Piedra Buena brought Biguá to Buenos Aires where met President Bartolomé Mitre and was declared lieutenant colonel of the Argentine Army and granted a salary accordingly.[1] In 1866 he signed a treaty with Argentine authorities where the Tehuelche were recognized as Argentine citizens and Argentine sovereignty up to the strait of Magellan was declared.[2] The influence of Casimiro Biguá in political affairs declined in the late 1860s.[2]

Casimiro Biguá
Cacique of the southern Tehuelche people from the Strait of Magellan and the Patagonian coast
PredecessorMaría la Grande
DiedPatagonia
NationalityTehuelche
MotherMaría la Grande

He was known for his deference to English travellers and sea-farers.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Martinic 1977, p. 142.
  2. ^ a b Martinic 1977, p. 143.
  3. ^ Melo, Walter D.; Scordo, Facundo; Perillo, Gerardo M. E.; Píccolo, M. Cintia (2017). "Identificación del lago "Coluguape" en la cartografía histórica (1775-1898): Su vinculación con el lago Buenos aires-General Carrera y el sistema lacustre Musters-Colhue Huapi" [Identification of the "Coluguape" lake in historical cartography (1775-1898): Its connection to the Buenos Aires-General Carrera lake and Musters- Colhue Huapi lake system]. Magallania (in Spanish). 45 (1): 15–33. doi:10.4067/S0718-22442017000100015. hdl:11336/27464.

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