Names and ethnic labels in the Pampa region, during the second half of the 17th Century

Abstract

The indigenous population that lived in the pampa region, current Argentine Republic, was described by religious representatives, colonial government officials, neighbors, encomenderos and others. Based on their own worldview and interests, they recorded different aspects of the indigenous groups living in the area located between south of Córdoba and Buenos Aires city during the late 17th Century. In this paper we focus on the territory in which the indigenous groups lived and their displacements -voluntary and forcedaiming to analyze which chiefs and groups are referred to with the ethnic labels “pampas” and “serranos”.