'Michima Lonco' (fl. mid-1500s) (''michima'' means "foreigner" and ''lonco'' means "head" or "chief" in
Mapudungun language) was an indigenous chief said to be a great warrior, born in the
Aconcagua Valley and educated in
Cusco by the
Inca Empire. He presented himself to the
Spaniards, naked and covered by a black pigmentation. He had seven wives and lived between the
Jahuel Valley and
Putaendo Valley.
On
September 11,
1541, Michimalonco attacked the newly founded Spanish settlement of
Santiago, Chile after seven
caciques were taken hostage by Spaniards following an uprising. Michimalonco was said to lead 8,000 to 20,000 men. The defense of the outnumbered town was led by
Inés de Suárez, a female conquistador, while commander
Pedro de Valdivia was elsewhere. Much of the town was destroyed when Suárez decapitated one of the caciques herself and had the rest decapitated to surprise the natives. The natives were then driven off by the Spanish.
After fighting the Spaniards, he fled to the
Andes mountain valleys. There he hid for a couple of years but feeling home sick he came back to the valley and allied his forces with the Spaniards and went to fight the
Mapuches on the south. He was reputedly raised in Cusco and had an accent when he spoke his native language, therefore he was named the "Foreigner Chief".