María la Grande

This article is about the South American indigenous leader. For the village in Argentina, see María Grande. For the Swiss musician, see María Grand. For the religious figure, see Mary, mother of Jesus.

María (c. 1789^[2] – c. 1841–47),^[3] better known as María la Grande or María Grande (English: María the Great), is the Christian name of a woman who served as the cacica of the southern Tehuelche people who lived in the Strait of Magellan and the Patagonian coast during the first half of the 19th century.^[1] Her direct domain was focused in the territory of the Bay of San Gregorio, in the present-day Chilean region of Magallanes,^[2] although she was called upon in other Patagonian regions when a conflictive situation required her judgment.^[4]

María
La Grande
Modern-day portrait of María la Grande
Cacica of the southern Tehuelche people from the Strait of Magellan and the Patagonian coast
Reign	First half of the 19th century[1]
Successor	Casimiro Biguá
Born	c. 1789 Disputed[note 1]
Died	c. 1841–47 Patagonia
Nationality	Tehuelche
Issue	5
Father	Vicente

María was a leader of great prestige and power among the Tehuelche people, known for her skills as a ruler and merchant with European settlers and explorers.^[5][6] She is considered one of the most prominent figures in the history of Patagonia.^[2] Her influence covered the entirety of Argentine Patagonia, from the Río Negro to the Strait of Magellan.^[5]

During her rule, she came into contact with the expeditions of James Weddell, Phillip Parker King, Robert FitzRoy and Luis Vernet, among others.^[2][6] The epithet "the Great"—a reference to Catherine II of Russia—was given to María by the latter upon meeting her in the Valdes Peninsula, in the present-day Argentine province of Chubut, in 1828.^[5] After being appointed as the commander of the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) in 1831 by the Argentine government, Vernet invited María to the islands for the purpose of establishing trade relations between their territories.^[5]

Notes

1. Although several historical sources claim that she was born in Asunción, Paraguay, this is unlikely considering the areas that both Maria's and her father's communities inhabited. Some historians argue that her full baptismal name was María de la Asunción, which caused the chroniclers to erroneously attribute Asunción as her place of birth.^[2]

References

1. Del Castillo Bernal, Liliana E. M.; Videla, María Florencia (2003). "Reinas y guerreros. Sobre jefaturas indígenas en Patagonia Meridional durante el siglo XIX". IX Jornadas Interescuelas y Departamentos de Historia (in Spanish). Córdoba: Escuela de Historia. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Retrieved January 20, 2022 – via Academia.edu.
2. Buscaglia, Silvana (2019). "El origen de la cacica María y su familia. Una aproximación genealógica (Patagonia, siglos XVIII-XIX)" [The origin of cacica María and her family. A genealogical approach (Patagonia, 18th and 19th centuries)]. Corpus (in Spanish). 9 (1). Mendoza: CONICET. doi:10.4000/corpusarchivos.2915. hdl:11336/119633. ISSN 1853-8037. S2CID 198834977. Retrieved January 20, 2022 – via OpenEdition Journals.
3. Arias, Fabián; Méndez, Laura Marcela (2008). "Historias de Mujeres patagónicas en los siglos XIX y principios del XX: unidad y diversidad a escala global" (PDF). III Jornadas de Historia de la Patagonia (in Spanish). San Carlos de Bariloche. Retrieved January 20, 2022 – via Hecho Histórico.
4. Vázquez, Pablo A. (April 19, 2021). "María Grande: la cacique tehuelche relacionada con Vernet, las islas Malvinas y Rosas". La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
5. Bontempo, Catalina (June 5, 2021). "María la Grande: la reina tehuelche que prendió fuego la Patagonia con su muerte". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved January 20, 2022.
6. Bandieri, Susana (November 2014). Historia de la Patagonia (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Sudamericana. ISBN 978-950-075-014-1. Retrieved January 20, 2022 – via Google Books.