The Hidden Face of the Patagonia Argentina Opiniones Y Ensayos

Vol. 8 Nº4 págs. 627-631. 2010 https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2010.08.053

www.pasosonline.org

Opiniones y ensayos

The hidden face of the Patagonia Argentina

Patricia María Méndez National University of Patagonia (Argentina) [email protected]

Introduction organization seems to be supported by the profuse information and bibliography on The Patagonia is well-known in the these topics and the disclosure of the same world mainly through the tourist promo- in the media aimed at a broad audience. tion. This promotion emphasizes its natu- Result numerous the publications which in ral beauty and foments/promotes the idea diverse media provide information on the that it is a place sheltered from the pre- natural characteristics and the prehistory datory action of (the) man where “nature of Patagonia. Also, in the last twenty years undresses its secrets and shows its mag- has considerably increased the literature nificence in their entire splendor” (www. pertaining to its rich history. But many patagoniaturistica.org.ar/). In relation to issues related to the culture of its inhabi- this concept of the Patagonia, the tourism tants have not yet been addressed despite agencies offer to the visitors activities of its great importance. One of them is the one adventure, eco-tourism, rural tourism, that refers to the current existence of the etc. and some cultural attractiveness such indigenous peoples of Patagonia and their as those related to the paleontological fin- way of life. The majority of the inhabitants dings, with their extinct native population of the Republic of Argentina (and, of cour- or with the Welsh colonization and its craft se, the rest of the world) ignores that in the productions (Forte, 2007). The main geo- present, much of the rural areas of Patago- graphical locations visited are some coas- nia are populated by aboriginal people, be- tal areas such as Port Madryn and Punta longing to the peoples tehuelche y mapuche. Tombo, where it is possible to know the rich Perhaps this ignorance is related to the lack fauna of the area, and the Mountain range of research into the matter and also with the of los Andes, where it is feasible to enjoy enactment of an idea throughout the twenty beautiful landscapes and to practice some century (through school books and different activities as skiing and fishing, mainly. media) according to which the Indians in For its part, the cultural attractions are Patagonia Argentina were exterminated in in museums, tea houses and places in the the late nineteenth century. cities or close to them that have been adap- The fact is that today, those who visit and ted for the tourist visits, as well as in some even those who live in coastal and cordille- natural sites with cave paintings near the ran areas of Patagonia, ignore the existence main routes. of these people who inhabit the rural and This notion of Patagonia and its tourist inhospitable areas of the region, notwiths-

tanding that they were born in these pla- des the high plain of the plateau of the ces, and that their ancestors have resided Somún Curá and also its near perimeter. in Patagonia since prehistoric times. This This plateau is located between the me- article will show some cultural and eco- ridians 66 and 68 West and the parallels nomic aspects of some of these residents, 41 and 43 South, covering 25,000 Km2 its living in north-central region of the Pro- high surface, of which 15,000 km2 are in vince of Chubut. It also describes the main the Province of Black River and 10,000 features of this largely unknown territory km2 in the Province of Chubut (Capua, 2007). The prevailing climate is arid desert marked by sharp temperature varia- tions and constant daily dry environment. Winds are frequent and intense predomi- nating from the western quadrant. Rain- falls are low (less than 200 mm annually) and descend from west to east along the topographic profile, which in turn varies from 700 meters above sea level up to 40 meters below it. The soil is barren, rocky and fosters the development of a shrubby steppe (Caminos, 1999).

Image 2. The north-central plateau of Chubut Province.

Due to the characteristics of this geo- graphical area and also by its limited infrastructure, the exploitation of natural resources is restricted, almost ex- clusively, to the sheep exploitation and to lesser extent goats, with an extensive production system. This production is carried out by two sectors clearly differentiated: the middle - large producers and small farmers or smallholders producers. The medium - large producers do not live in their economic units. They offer as the main product the fine wool type obtained mainly from the Australian Merino Image 1. Provinces of Patagonia argenti- breed. The small producers, on the con- na. trary, reside in the area and their lives- tock inventories are much lower than the which lies at the heart of Patagonia, inten- previous ones, being the number of its li- ded to publicize this reality and contribute vestock less than three hundred animals to its valuation. (Acebal, 2007). These small producers are mainly The north-central plateau of aborigines, who work next to their fa- Chubut Province milies and reside in the lands that were granted by the Argentine National Sta- From the physiographic point of view, te to their ancestors after the “Conquest the north-central Province of Chubut inclu- of the Desert”2 (Finkelstein, Gavirati y

PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 8(4). 2010 ISSN 1695-7121 Patricia María Méndez 629

Novella, 2005). They are villagers of scar- leading to overgrazing and a progressive ce resources whose farming operations degradation of soil. are considered ‘subsistence’ because their In addition, smallholder producers are areas of land and the quality of them are not organized into associative systems inadequate to develop productive practi- which favour the marketing of their pro- ces. For this reason men usually are the ducts. This implies that the only possibi- labor supply for large farmers of that area lity of market access is almost always via mainly serving as farmhand, which will the ‘bolicheros’ or owners of small stores increase their family income. of general goods, where the commercial re- Some of these families inhabit rural lationship is always detrimental to small areas in a dispersed way; others live in producers. Therefore, to the low profitabi- locations, towns, villages, schools, agri- lity and gradual degradation of natural re- cultural pastoral colonies, municipalities sources of small economic units are added or rural communes. Their trade, political, to unfavorable conditions for marketing civil and sanitary relations take place in their products, characterized by usury, small towns and rural communities that and the absence of public policies that constitute the administrative and service allow to improve the situation. office there. These centers are Gualjaina, All these factors lead to the gradual Paso de Indios, Aldea Epulef, Cushamen, impoverishment of the indigenous fami- Colan Conhué, Dique Florentino Ameghi- lies and to the transference of his econo- no, Gan Gan, Gastre, Lagunita Salada, mic units to hands of estate owners and Las Plumas, Los Altares, and Paso del merchants. Due to it, the economic and Sapo y Telsen. All these settlements are population panorama that can be observed linked together by numerous tracks, dirt at present in the plateau center - north of roads, some consolidated gravel roads and the Province of Chubut is a rural migra- a single paved road -the national number tion of these families to the big cities of the 25 road - which crosses the region from Province and an increase in the quantity west to east. Many of these roads remain of population in the strata defined as poor since prehistoric times, when they were and indigent (INDEC 2001). passing through by the ancient inhabitants of Patagonia. At present, the cha- The ancestral knowledge: an alter- racteristics of some of them make difficult native for the survival or even impossible the traffic during the winter, causing many villagers are isola- In the context described, the women ted. These situations often become critical who integrate the families of the small if we take into account the humble living producers develop their activities: carry conditions in these families, most of who out household chores (carrying water from lack of a basic service telephone and do not nearby streams to their homes, gather fi- have health services that may give them rewood in the countryside, caring for sheep, emergency relief. cook, make cheeses from milk of sheep and Land ownership in this region pre- goats, clean their homes, wash by hand the sents strong differences: the large and clothes of the whole family, etc.) care for middle producers are owners of properties their children and make weaves with the clearly differentiated one from another, raw material they obtain from their ani- each constitute a single exploitation that mals or their neighbors. functions on a land area of exclusive use. These fabrics (commonly referred to as Smallholder producers, by contrast, are native or “mapuche” crafts) are made from mostly occupants of public land with pre- the knowledge and practices that have carious occupancy permits and many of more than four years old and have been their lots lack a clear division: in some lo- transmitted through many generations of calities, such as Epulef Village, the tenu- Indian women. For centuries, they used re is communal and therefore indivisible; the wool and hair of the guanaco to make while each producer maintains a delimi- garments for the personal warm clothes of tate area of pasture, the properties are not their husbands and sons, for the saddle- fenced. In other locations, such as Cusha- cloth of their horses and for their homes, men, land tenure is not communal, howe- and also to be exchanged for products that ver many grazing lands are not wire fen- their belonging groups did not manufac- ced. These features of the smallholdings ture . Also, through this activity, women make impossible the individual use of its have transmitted values and beliefs that surfaces, that is to say, that they may or are part of their cultural heritage and of may not be used simultaneously by more adaptations to different natural and social than one small producer. This contributes contexts (Méndez, 2008). to the inadequate use of natural resources Today, these fabrics are still produced

PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 8(4). 2010 ISSN 1695-7121 630 The hidden face of the Patagonia Argentina

for the same purpose: the domestic use, the native crafts of the region at a fair price exchange and for the transmission of va- in the major cities shops throughout the lues and beliefs. From the economic view- Province, create jobs for women in the point, the sales of its textiles allow them to plateau and to avoid depopulation of rural obtain income required to supplement the areas of Patagonia. However, the favora- limited profits of smallholder production ble results obtained so far are scarce due and thus meet their basic needs and their to the many bureaucratic requirements families’. In the best cases, these additio- arising from the state and to the discon- nal revenues allow their children to attend tinuity in the allocation of resources an- school to receive a formal education, which nounced from government agencies. lacked most of these people. The main places where women sell their Summary and conclusions weaves are the ‘boliches’ (small stores of general goods) which are in the fields and In spite of the fact that tourism in Pa- villages around their homes. By swapping tagonia Argentina at present is mixed, their elaborations they obtain flour, yerba it still does not include the indigenous mate, oil, and several elements necessary communities that exist in that area. For for the survival of their families, but this existing tourist enterprises, the aborigi- exchange is almost always shylock and is nes of Patagonia are part only of the past, only beneficial to the owners of the stores. so any dealing with the issues associated The best conditions for sale are at fairs with them is through museums and other in the nearby cities, where women can de- regional cultural centers. livered their handicrafts directly to final The current existence of cultural prac- consumers and thus to avoid middlemen. tices typical of indigenous groups that are However, very few have that option. Most kept alive inside the homes of aboriginal of them lack the resources to do so or are families, constitute significant resources unable to do it on a regular basis by the in- to take into account for the improvement clement weather conditions and consequent of tourism offer in Patagonia. Similarly, road conditions. For these reasons they tourism is an important alternative to barter their handicrafts at the ‘boliches’, improve the living conditions of these or offer them for sale to traders traveling Patagonian people: the national and in- to the plateau, who have their businesses ternational tourism that develops in the in major tourist cities of Patagonia, such area can contribute greatly to the econo- as Esquel, Puerto Madryn, Bariloche, San mic development of the communities of Martin de los Andes, etc. the plateau. Moreover, this would allow These traders tend to exhibit such han- the dissemination of spiritual values and dicrafts in its shops together with labels ancient knowledge of these inhabitants of and brochures that highlight the traditio- Patagonia until now poorly known. A pa- nal and spiritual value of these garments, radigmatic case is established by the in- its complex design made according to an- digenous production of textiles, a practice cestral indigenous knowledge and its exce- that has over four hundred years old and llent quality related to the use of natural now, as in the past, allows the survival of raw materials. They emphasize their con- many indigenous families. nection and respect for the natural envi- If this tourist potential is developed ronment and its origin in the depth of past. with an integral awareness and not only However, do not provide more information as a commodity, can improve the satisfac- about the people who produced them or tion of the tourist experience in the area their context production. Sometimes they at the same time enriching the history add the name of the woman who made the and cultural diversity of humanity. This crafts and their place of residence, which would also sustain and preserve the envi- almost always is elusive to tourists and ronment, which is the basis of the activity also to many people of Patagonia. But per- in the region and from which its inhabi- haps most serious is that many of these tants depend. merchants pay ridiculous prices to women But these possibilities will exist to the who made the goods and then sell them in extent that it is disseminated the history, their shops to values twice, thrice and in the cultural heritage and social capi- many cases four times the price paid. tal which in part is described here. Just As a result, have emerged in recent knowing this different face and hitherto years several proposals from some of the undisclosed on Patagonia, it will exists Argentine State agencies that have been the prospect of developing alternative implemented with resources, continuity and sustainable actions that give a more and dissimilar results. These projects have equal range of opportunities for all who as main objectives to promote the sale of inhabit this world.

PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 8(4). 2010 ISSN 1695-7121 Patricia María Méndez 631

Notes Instituto Autárquico de Colonización y Fo- mento Rural de la Provincia de Chubut. The ‘Conquista del Desierto’’ (‘The Electronic document, http://www. Desert´s Conquest’) was a combat opera- chubut.gov.ar/iac/. Accessed August 6 tion carried out by the government of the 2008. Argentine Republic between the years 1879 Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agro- and 1886 that it had like main objective to pecuaria. Electronic document, http:// expand the national borders to the Patago- www.inta.gov.ar/chubut/actividad/acti- nian territories until that moment occupied vidad.htm. Accessed December 12 2007. by the natives mapuches and tehuelches. Méndez, Patricia. Their main results were the incorporation (At the press) Herencia textil, identidad of these territories to the Argentine State indígena y perspectiva económica de la and almost the extermination of the native Patagonia Argentina. Tesis de Licencia- population. tura en Historia. Rawson: Fondo Edito- Nevertheless, the indigenous population rial de la Secretaría de Cultura de la did not disappear. The survivors - margi- Provincia de Chubut. nalized, ignored and uncivilized by a state Secretaría de Minería de la Nación Argen- policy that affirmed its complete destruc- tina. Electronic document, http://www. tion - looked for places where to settle and mineria.gov.ar/ambiente/estudios/irn/ rebuild their lives, adapting themselves to chubut/u-7agro.asp. Accessed December the demands imposed to them by the new 12 2007. political order. Some of those places are those that are described in this article. References

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PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 8(4). 2010 ISSN 1695-7121