In 1557, at the Battle of Lagunillas, the Spanish captured 150 Mapuche warriors. Among them was Galvarino, who had both his hands hacked off and was then released as a warning to his people.
While many of us can barely survive a paper cut, Galvarino insisted his fellow Mapuche TIE A PAIR OF KNIVES to his arms so he could personally take revenge on the Spanish.
Though it takes most modern-day people a month to recover from a hangnail, less than three weeks after his mutilation, Galvarino led his warriors at the Battle of Millarapue where he killed a Spanish officer with—and we can’t stress this enough—HIS FREAKING KNIFE HANDS.
Galvarino was ultimately recaptured and executed by the Spanish, though the Mapuche successfully resisted Spanish and Chilean colonization until the mid-19th century. The Chilean town of Galvarino is named in this BAMF warrior’s honor.
