The Conquest of the Desert
The Conquest of the Desert
Argentina’s Indigenous Peoples and the Battle for History
Winner of the 2021 Thomas McGann Book Prize from the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies
For more than one hundred years, the Conquest of the Desert (1878-1885) has marked Argentina’s historical passage between eras, standing at the gateway to the nation’s "Golden Age" of progress, modernity, and—most contentiously—national whiteness and the "invisibilization" of Indigenous peoples. This traditional narrative has deeply influenced the ways in which many Argentines understand their nation’s history, its laws and policies, and its cultural heritage. As such, the Conquest has shaped debates about the role of Indigenous peoples within Argentina in the past and present. The Conquest of the Desert brings together scholars from across disciplines to offer an interdisciplinary examination of the Conquest and its legacies. This collection explores issues of settler colonialism, Indigenous-state relations, genocide, borderlands, and Indigenous cultures and land rights through essays that reexamine one of Argentina’s most important historical periods.
The volume brings together scholars from Argentina, the United States, and Canada in different stages of their careers and from different disciplines. It successfully weaves a multifaceted approach to the study of a single moment in a single space, benefiting from a wealth of sources and disciplinary frameworks.'--María de los Ángeles Picone, H-LatAm
The Conquest of the Desert brings together incisive essays that reevaluate one of the most significant and formative periods in Argentine history.…This book gives voice to the often forgotten or silenced Argentines of Indigenous descent.
Carolyne R. Larson is an associate professor of history at St. Norbert College and the author of Our Indigenous Ancestors: A Cultural History of Museums, Science, and Identity in Argentina, 1877-1943.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Tracing the Battle for History
Carolyne R. Larson
Chapter One. The Conquest of the Desert: The Official Story
Carolyne R. Larson
Chapter Two. "Occupy Every Road and Prepare for Combat": Mapuche and Tehuelche Leaders Face the War in Patagonia
Julio Vezub and Mark Healey
Chapter Three. Environment and the Conquest of the Desert, 1876-1885
Rob Christensen
Chapter Four. Live Indians in the Museum: Connecting Evolutionary Anthropology with the Conquest of the Desert
Ricardo D. Salvatore
Chapter Five. Beyond the "Desert": Indigenous Genocide as a Structuring Event in Northern Patagonia
Walter Delrio and Pilar Pérez
Chapter Six. Redefining Borders: The Desert in Argentine Literature
Jennie I. Daniels
Chapter Seven. The Long Conquista del Desierto and the Making of Military Government Indigenous Policy, 1976-1983
David M. K. Sheinin
Chapter Eight. Senses of Painful Experience: Memory of the Mapuche People in Violent Times
Ana Ramos
Chapter Nine. Mapping Mapuche Territory: Reimagining the Conquest of the Desert
Sarah D. Warren
Bibliography
Contributors
Index
