After the genocide. Documents and territorialized memories in Pulmarí, Neuquén Province

Abstract

This paper analyzes a process of (de)territorialization in Neuquén province, Argentina, in the context of the genocide perpetrated against Mapuche people during late 19th century. We aim to observe the territorial movements that occurred after the military conquest over the Patagonia region by tracing the dispossession the Mapuche people suffered within the National Park during the 1950s. The objectives are to rethink about post-genocide practices enabled by the violence of military conquest in the 19th century; to analyze the role of the territory as key element in the constitution of both the State and the Mapuche identity; and to analyze the social memories referring to the Mapuche territory in relation to indigenous resistance. We will examine records, edited reports and population files produced by the National Parks State Agency, as well as the social memory based on testimonies of settlers and Mapuche families that live in Aluminé department nowadays.