Weichafe: El ideal del «guerrero bárbaro» frente a las armas de fuego

Abstract

The following article will try to analyze the impact, use and massification of firearms in the mapuche culture of the 16 th and 17 th centuries focusing on their warrior caste called weichafes . This elite stood out for their weapons handling and for battling face-to-face the modernity personified in gunpowder weapons conceived by the West. These battles occurred in the context of the Military Revolution, when European methods of warfare were expanded and adopted globally. The analysis presented here will use a perspective of military history and historical methodology, based on the review, classification and analysis of historical documents and related bibliography.