Cacique or Cazique (female form: Cacica) is a term applied to the pre-Columbian tribal chiefs or leaders, predominantly in Latin America. The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences A traditional tribal chief is the leader of a Tribe, or the head of a tribal form of self-government The term is also often used in contemporary American literature (Momaday's House Made of Dawn for example) to refer to Native American group leaders in the United States.

Dispute

Some historians, such as Charles C. Mann in his book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (2005), have objected to the use of the term instead of "king" to refer to the Native American monarchs, even if it is widely employed for the leaders of the so called Barbarians in European history – such as king of the Huns, the Franks, the Goths, and so on. "Barbarian" is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person either in a general reference to a member of a nation or Ethnos perceived

Cacique is also the brand name of a liquor made in Costa Rica, and of a popular rum made in Venezuela. Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica,) is a Country in Rum is a Distilled beverage made from Sugarcane by-products such as Molasses and sugarcane Juice by a process of fermentation Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the

See also

• Machi
• Kalku

A machi is a Shaman or (usually a good Witch in the Mapuche culture of South America; and is also an important character and the Mapuche Kalku or Calcu, in Chilean folklore and the Mapuche mythology, is a sorcerer or Shaman, usually but not necessarily an evil one

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