Kinship, territory and power in Northeastern Patagonia: the trajectory of the Cacique Negro’s lineage, 1774-1830

Abstract

This article explores the indigenous lineages of northeastern Patagonia during the first decades of Carmen de Patagones settlement. By focusing on the study of kinship, it deepens our knowledge on the internal power dynamics, making visible a wider radius of relatives and allies, as well as long-term changes in the indigenous geopolitics. This study analyzes the cacique Negro and his descendants, revealing a certain tension between the local historical memory that weaves a territorial and patrilineal linearity between him and caciques Llanquitrúz and Saygüeque, the cousins who led the region during the mid-nineteenth century. It also relativizes Negro's power and highlights the expansion of lineages from Patagonia to the north of the Negro River. This phenomenon generated greater trans-regional integration. At the same time, this article brings to light the importance of matrilineal ties in power building, and the flexibility that kinship provided to adapt to changing contexts as well as project new leaderships.