Lonko

{{Short description|Tribal chief of the Mapuche people}} [[File:Lonko-Kilapan-2.jpg|thumb|220px|Portrait of the lonco Quilapán.]]A '''lonko''' or '''lonco''' (from Mapudungun ''longko'', literally "head"), is a chief of several{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} Mapuche communities. These were often ulmen, the wealthier men in the lof.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33LjAAAAMAAJ&q=lonko+OR+lonco+OR+longko+ulmen+mapuche|title=Mapuche, Seeds of the Chilean Soul: An Exhibit at the Port of History Museum at Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 27-June 30, 1992|date=1992|publisher=Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino|pages=58|language=en}}</ref> In wartime, lonkos of the various local rehue or the larger aillarehue would gather in a koyag or parliament and would elect a toqui to lead the warriors in battle.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33LjAAAAMAAJ&q=lonko+OR+lonco+OR+longko+toki+mapuche|title=Mapuche, Seeds of the Chilean Soul: An Exhibit at the Port of History Museum at Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 27-June 30, 1992|date=1992|publisher=Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino|pages=43|language=en}}</ref> ''Lonco'' sometimes forms part of geographical names such as the city of Loncoche (English: "head of an important person").

== References == {{Reflist}} {{Mapuche}}

Category:Mapuche Category:Lonkos Category:Social history of Chile  * Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership Category:Mapuche words and phrases