{{Short description|Chono chieftain}} '''Martín Olleta''' was a Chono chieftain who was an important broker between Spanish authorities in Chiloé Archipelago and indigenous people of the fjords and channels of Patagonia. He is known for rescuing the survivors of the wreck of {{HMS|Wager|1739|6}} in 1742.<ref name=Urbina2016>{{cite journal |last1=Urbina Carrasco |first1=Ximena|author-link=Ximena Urbina |date=2016 |title=Interacciones entre españoles de Chiloé y Chonos en los siglos XVII y XVIII: Pedro y Francisco Delco, Ignacio y Cristóbal Talcapillán y Martín Olleta |language=es|trans-title=Interactions between Spaniards of Chiloé and Chonos in the XVII and XVII centuries: Pedro and Francisco Delco, Ignacio and Cristóbal Talcapillán and Martín Olleta |url=http://www.chungara.cl/Vols/2016/48-1/07-URBINA.pdf |journal=Chungara |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=103–114 |access-date=December 21, 2019}}</ref> He was identified as chieftain by the British and referred to as "gobernadorcillo de dicha nación chonos" ("little governor of the Chono nation") by the Spanish governor of Chiloé Victoriano Martínez de Tineo.<ref name=Urbina2016/> He used a rod with a silver handle as symbol of authority.<ref name=Urbina2016/>
==Rescue of HMS ''Wager'' survivors== Olleta led a party of indigenous Chono that visited Captain Cheap's stranded group in Wager Island, Guayaneco Archipelago. This happened fifteen days after a group of British sailors returned to Wager Island after failing to round Taitao Peninsula with an improvised barge.<ref name=urbinaburgos2007>{{Cite book|chapter=El pueblo chono: de vagabundo y pagano a cristiano y sedentario mestizado|url=http://www.turismocientifico.cl/admin/apps/filemanager/repository/%C3%A1reas%20del%20conocimiento/Poblamiento,%20historia%20y%20cultura/Antropologia/Etnias/Al%20Pueblo%20Chono.pdf|last=Urbina Burgos|first=Rodolfo|pages=325–346|title=Orbis incognitvs: avisos y legados del Nuevo Mundo|year=2007|publisher=Universidad de Huelva|location=Huelva|isbn=9788496826243|language=es}}</ref> The Spanish language proficiency of the Chonos was enough to communicate with the Spanish-speaking surgeon of the British party.<ref name=Urbina2016/> After some negotiation, the Chono agreed to guide Cheap's group to a small Spanish settlement up the coast, using an overland route to avoid the peninsula. The castaways traded the barge and iron objects for the journey. Iron was highly valued by the Chono as this metal was even scarce in the Spanish settlements further north.<ref name=Urbina2016/> The survivors of HMS ''Wager'' boarded the dalcas of Olleta's party and headed north.<ref name=Urbina2016/> Martín Olleta led the survivors through an unusual route across Presidente Ríos Lake in Taitao Peninsula avoiding the common route through San Tadeo River and San Rafael Lake.<ref name=Alvarezetal2015>{{cite journal |last1=Álvarez A. |first1=Ricardo |last2=Navarro P. |first2=Magdalena |last4=Donoso C. |first4=Cristián|last3=Saavedra G. |first3=Gonzalo |date=2015 |title=Referencias exploratorias sobre el lago Presidente Ríos, para sortear el Istmo de Ofqui, Península de Taitao, Región de Aysén |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-22442015000100006 |journal=Magallania|trans-title=Exploratory references on Presidente Ríos lake, for routes round the Ofqui Isthmus, Taitao Peninsula, Aysén Region, Chile|language=es |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=91–101 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442015000100006 |access-date=December 21, 2019|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=VasquezRicardo>{{cite web |last1=Vásquez Caballero |first1=Ricardo Felipe |date=2008 |title=Aau, el secreto de los chono |url=http://www.historianaval.cl/publico/publicacion_archivo/publicaciones/13_3.pdf |language=es |access-date=January 24, 2019}}</ref> Before handing over the English to Spanish authorities, Martín Olleta's party stopped somewhere south of Chiloé Island to hide all iron objects, likely to avoid having them confiscated.<ref name=Urbina2016/> When Spanish authorities learned that Lieutenant Hamilton had been lost in the way north, they compelled Olleta to go back south and find him, which he actually did.<ref name=Urbina2016/>
Scholar Ximena Urbina conjectures that Martín Olleta must have lived close to the Spanish and heard from other natives of the wreckage. Thus the rescue was not by chance but an enterprise done with prior knowledge of the Spanish interest in foreigners and of the valuable loot to be found at the wreckage.<ref name=Urbina2016/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olleta, Martin}} Category:Chono people Category:18th century in Chile Category:History of Aysén Region Category:History of Chiloé Category:People from Aysén Region Category:Chilean sailors Category:18th-century Indigenous leaders in the Americas Category:Indigenous sailors of the Americas