Trading peoples. Trade between Buenos Aires and the indigenous peoples of the southeastern Pampas, 1740-1830

Abstract

Traditionally, scholars have pointed out the harmful effects of indigenous mercantile participation: acculturation, economic dependence and social polarization. In this article, we offer evidence that gives a more nuanced image in the case of the indigenous communities of the southeastern Pampas between the 18th and 19th centuries, where indigenous mercantile participation was neither forced, nor even induced, but enthusiastically spontaneous. Taking the evidence of a century of inter-ethnic trade, we observe that the indigenous peoples became avid consumers, skilled traders and industrious producers of goods. They zealously defended their freedom to trade, set up commercial ports in their territory and became part of local, regional and overseas trade networks. In short, the indigenous peoples of the southeastern Pampas created their own forms of mercantile participation that earned them the label of “trading peoples” in the transition between the Ancien Régime and economic liberalism.