Galvarino was a Mapuche warrior who lived in the 1500’s. During the Battle of Lagunillas, Galvarino was captured along with 100 of his fellow warriors. They were tortured and most of them lost a hand and a nose. Galvarino was lucky. He just lost both hands and was able to keep his nose. Governor Mendoza was in charge of the punishments and the release of Galvarino and his men.

For Mendoza, blood had been spilled and he had been victorious. For Galvarino, he wasn’t going to be so easily defeated. He returned home with his men. He paid little to no attention to the fact that he was missing two very important parts of himself. He didn’t worry about his hands at all. Instead, he figured out a way to tether knives to the stumps at the ends of his arms and went to battle that way. His men and the people of Mapuche weren’t sure if Galvarino would be able to fight with the contraption that he made, but he cooly told them in his gruff, beastly tone that we all assume ancient warriors had that if his hands didn’t work, he would just tear them apart with his teeth.

Then came the Battle of Millarapue. The second battle between Galvarino and Mendoza. And it was a great battle. Galvarino struck down Mendoza’s second in command with his makeshift knife hands. He was pretty proud of himself. So proud he almost patted himself on the back…but then he thought better of it. The battle continued on. Galvarino fought off man after man. Finally, Mendoza broke through Galvarino’s line. The battle lasted for over an hour before Mendoza was victorious. He killed thousands of Galvarino’s men, but Galvarino stood tall. Until Mendoza threw him to the dogs– literally.