Forms of resistance, experiences and ethnopolitical organization of a Mapuche community in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

Objective: This paper seeks to contribute, from the perspective of Social Anthropology, to the analysis of the ethnopolitical organization and identity revaluation of indigenous communities in Argentina. For this purpose, we will focus on the organization process of the families of the Mapuche Kalfulafken community in the urban region of Carhué, province of Buenos Aires (Argentina), which has gained momentum in the last decades. In short, the aim is to analyze how indigenous claims in Carhué are constituted around territory, ethnic identity and living conditions by considering resistance strategies and access to resources over time and in relation to the different levels of the State -municipality, province and nation-. Central to this analysis is the indigenous emergence of recent times, which began in the 1990s and is characterized by a growing ethnic awareness and emergence. Additionally, reanalyzing the legislations that principally address the original pueblos of the country and the legal and regulatory advances that, in many cases, are due to the continued mobilization and organization of indigenous groups have been very important in the processes of identity reconstruction.

Materials and methods: The approach from which we start this research corresponds to the perspective of Social Anthropology. The fieldwork with the Mapuche families of Carhué began in 2018 from a specific demand to the research/outreach group to collaborate in their request for recognition before the provincial State (through the processing of their legal status). The steps to be followed in the research and the work guidelines were defined together with the community, so that the methodology is based on collaborative work. A bibliographic survey of theoretical antecedents was carried out. The research question focused on the forms of organization of the Mapuche families and their relationship with the processes of ethnic-identity reconfiguration in Carhué, framed in the context of the indigenous emergence and resurgence of ethnic and territorial demands in the area. 

Returning to the field on several occasions, deepening the topics and reworking the methodological strategies allowed us to construct the objectives and better orient the research. The methodology was ethnographic and a diverse group of actors were interviewed: the members of the indigenous organization, inhabitants of Carhué, governmental and non-governmental officials, and others. Open and in-depth interviews, semi-structured interviews, individual, and group interviews were carried out. The aim was to reconstruct life histories and trajectories in order to try to understand social phenomena from the perspective of the actors. Thus, participant observation was an important part of the fieldwork. The perspective was nurtured and triangulated with the search for primary and secondary sources and complementary cases through the work in the local archive at the request of Kalfulafken, given the importance of making an approach with some historical depth to reconstruct the facts of persecution and violence against indigenous peoples in Argentina.

Results: The work is framed within the resurgence of the demands and processes of identity reconstruction that have been gaining strength in the country since the 1990s. The large presence of the indigenous population in urban spaces is highlighted in the face of the historically constructed ideas of denial, discrimination and exclusion that have their roots in the colonial period and continued with the formation of the National State. We focus on the history of ethnopolitical organization and the forms of resistance of the families of Carhué, which has gained momentum in the last decades and seeks to assert their presence in the urban environment. From which, the members appeal to distance themselves from and question the discourses promoted by state institutions that sought to dominate and make the indigenous population in the region invisible. In this way, we address the strategies and activities implemented by the Kalfulafken community that seek to question the 'official history' and demonstrate the subjugation, discrimination and invisibilization suffered and to reaffirm their current presence in Carhué. Such processes have led, on the one hand, to new links with other ethnopolitical groups, universities, national and local institutions, and on the other hand, to the generation of new spaces for participation and networks in the area in order to have greater visibility and strengthen their claims. In addition, we highlight the community's search for support and recognition from local authorities in order to make their claims viable.

Conclusions: From the analysis on the organizational processes of a Mapuche community in the province of Buenos Aires we can make several conclusions.  On the one hand, in the absence of responses from the various levels of the State and the lack of implementation of laws and regulations concerning indigenous peoples, it is the communities that must mobilize and develop strategies to enforce their rights as pre-existing peoples. Despite the lack of response to the indigenous claims, the ethnopolitical organization of the community of Carhué continues to grow in order to make its presence visible at the local level and to claim the fulfillment of their rights and the recovery of their territories in order to have their own spaces and cultural autonomy for their reproduction. Another issue that was highlighted was the need for greater access to funds and social projects that would allow these objectives to be carried out and that would provide scholarships for the younger generations to study. That is to say that these requests that have arisen in the organization are linked, since in order to have autonomy they must have territories and funds to sustain it. 

In summary, the above allows us to account for the local ethnopolitical work and the impact of the productions and materials produced within the framework of university extension to accompany such processes. Likewise, the presence of indigenous movements makes it clear that the state projects of a homogeneous Argentina have not been achieved. In the case of Kalfulafken we have been able to see that in addition to the processing of their legal status, the community seeks to generate new spaces for intervention and networks in the region to achieve greater visibility and strengthen their claims.