Mercedes Suarez was the cacique, or chief, of a Charrua tribe whose territory encompassed parts of Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. As cacique, the position was hereditary. He lived in Uruguay and later Argentina, where he met and married Francisca Carballo. They had five children, including Lujana who moved to Ensenada, Argentina in 1935 with her brother Jose and later married Luis Dure, having Mercedes in 1944 who is the author's grandmother.

1. My grandma’s grandfather was a
“cacique” of a charrua tribe.

2. Their territory was a big part of Uruguay,
provinces in the east of Argentina (Entre Rios,
Santa Fe, Corrientes and a little part of Buenos
Aires) and the province of Rio Grande in Brazil.
It was an important tribe in South America.

3. It Was a very aggressive tribe with
people from other tribes or people that
they didn’t know. They lived in poor
houses and they hunted for a living.

4. His name was Mercedes Suarez. He was born in 1876 in
Uruguay and he died in 1923 in Argentina. He was a “cacique”
for heredity. He lived in Uruguay for a long time and then he
moved to Gualeguaychu, where he met his future wife called
Francisca Carballo, who died in 1946. They had five children
(Jose, Lujana, Cristina, Rosario and Julián)

5. In 1935 my grandma’s mother (Lujana)arrived in
Ensenada and she lived there for a short time with her
brother José until she got married to Luis Duré, my great
grandfather. In 1944 they had their first daughter called
Mercedes, my grandmother.