“A book by investigative journalist Patrick Tierney documents a possible modern ritual human sacrifice during the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 1960 by a machi of the Mapuche in the Lago Budi community.

“The victim, 5 year old José Luis Painecur, had his arms and legs removed by Juan Pañán and Juan José Painecur (the victim’s grandfather), and was stuck into the sand of the beach like a stake. The waters of the Pacific Ocean then carried the body out to sea. The sacrifice was rumored to be at the behest of local machi, Juana Namuncurá Añen.

“The 2 men were charged with the crime and confessed, but later recanted. They were released after 2 years. A judge ruled that those involved had “acted without free will, driven by an irresistible natural force of ancestral tradition”

-1960 Chilean tsunami