Conflicts and Cooperation in the Mountainous Mapuche Territory (Argentina) the Case of the Nahuel Huapi National Park

Journal of Alpine Research | Revue de géographie alpine 98-1 | 2010 Parcs nationaux de montagne et construction territoriale des processus participatifs Conflicts and cooperation in the mountainous Mapuche territory (Argentina) The case of the Nahuel Huapi National Park Renaud Miniconi and Sylvain Guyot Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/rga/1151 DOI: 10.4000/rga.1151 ISSN: 1760-7426 Publisher Association pour la diffusion de la recherche alpine Electronic reference Renaud Miniconi and Sylvain Guyot, « Conflicts and cooperation in the mountainous Mapuche territory (Argentina) », Revue de Géographie Alpine | Journal of Alpine Research [Online], 98-1 | 2010, Online since 15 April 2010, connection on 19 April 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ rga/1151 ; DOI : 10.4000/rga.1151 La Revue de Géographie Alpine est mise à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modiﬁcation 4.0 International. Conflicts and cooperation in the mountainous Mapuche territory (Argentina) The case of the Nahuel Huapi National Park Renaud Miniconi*, Sylvain Guyot** *Independent Geographer, Limoges. [email protected] **UMR 604 CNRS GEOLAB, Limoges University. [email protected] Abs rac : Over the past two decades, realities are more contrasted due to indigenous issues have ,ecome a ma-or regional sta6eholders2 divergent interests. concern for different countries all over In the particular conte9t of Argentina, the world. Argentina is one of these where a large part of the population countries, with 600 000 people who faces pro,lems gaining access to land, recogni.e themselves as indigenous, national par6s have emerged as a representing 1.01 of the nation2s entire relevant tool for indigenous peoples to population. Nevertheless, these recover their ancestral lands, especially populations are still too often than6s to a new process ta6ing place in marginali.ed on a regional scale. This is these territories: co-management. the case for the Mapuche in the Nahuel 4uapi National 5ar6, located in the two Keywords: mountain, indigenous, provinces of Rio Negro and Neu7u8n. Mapuche, Nahuel 4uapi National 5ar6, Even though ,oth international and conflicts, cooperation, Argentina. some national te9ts reha,ilitate essential human rights for these populations, local ature conservation is an ideological pro-ection and a philosophical position N (DE5RAZ, 008) fed ,y specific representations of nature, such as Romanticism in the 19th century or Apatrimoni.ationB of nature in the 0th century. The conservation em,odied ,y natural par6 policies, and its economic, land-related, and touristic effects, is nowadays critici.ed ,y a growing num,er of indigenous populations the world over (Alcorn, 1994C Amend D Amend, 199 C Ghimire, 5im,ert, 199E). This is the case in the southern Argentinean Andes1, 1 The Andinean frontier, defined as the ,order ,etween Chile and Argentina, has denied the e9istence of indigenous realities on ,oth sides of the mountain range (Amilhat-S.ary, 006). Argentina ,ecame independent in 1810 and Chile in 181 . This emancipation from the Spanish crown would permit the two newly-formed countries, in their 7uest for territorial and economic e9pansion, to envisage the con7uest of the southern part of the continent. This would ,e called the ACon7uest of the DesertB in 138 Revue de géographie alpine/Journal of Alpine Research Vol. 98-2010 Conflic s and coopera ion in he moun ainous Mapuche erri ory where most of the Mapuche still live in rural communities in and around the mountainous National 5ar6 Nahuel 4uapi (N5N4) (Fig. 1). The N5N4 is representative of a mountain with various uses as well as contradictory and controversial representations (De,ar,ieu9 1990 and 001C Dolfus, 1989) such as: a natural space, a geopolitical tool, a place for transit and e9change, an economical asset, a powerful ur,ani.ation factor through touristic development (101 population increase over the last fifteen years in San Carlos de Bariloche), and, finally, an ancestral territory for the Mapuche. Conflicts arise ,etween the Mapuche2s demands for ancestral land restitution3 and never-ending ur,an and touristic growth. In this controversial conte9t, how can a national par6, with its distinctive territorial identity and sustaina,ility o,-ectives, diverge from standard policies in light of indigenous issuesH Figure 1. Location of the Nahuel Huapi National Park in the Andes. Authors’ map, 2009 Argentina, or the A5acification of the AraucariaB in Chile. This territorial fight to con7uer 5atagonia would come to an end in 188 , through an ar,itration from the British crown, which would define the frontier ,etween the two countries as passing over the summits of the Andes. According to the INDEC (The Argentinean statistics institute) E01 of the Mapuche are now living in ur,an areas in Chile and Argentina. 3 The Mapuche are officially ac7uiring, through a slow process, credi,ility and legitimacy in the international sphere (UN, etc.), ,ut also more and more sympathy from the western world due to media coverage of their fight (Le Bonniec, Guevara, 008). 139 Revue de géographie alpine/Journal of Alpine Research Vol. 98-2010 Renaud Miniconi, Sylvain )uyo The Nahuel Huapi National Park: a fragmented territory The Nahuel 4uapi National 5ar62s creation participates in diverse ways in the history and the reinvention of the mountain2s contradictory uses and representations: - In the Mapuche2s perception, the mountain appears as a sym,olic o,-ect. It plays an important role in the cosmology4 of this transandinean population (initiatory -ourneys, spirituali.ing nature, etc.). This perception is perfectly integrated into the idea of a sacred mountain, a recurring notion since Anti7uity. - For the Argentinean e9plorer Francisco Moreno0, the mountain seems more li6e a space to preserve for its natural aesthetic. It also serves as a geopolitical tool to define the ,order in the delicate conte9t of the con7uest of 5atagonia. - Finally, for the two cities of San Carlos de Bariloche6 and Iilla la AngosturaE, located in the heart of the national par6, the mountain is a tool for touristic development and therefore acts as the principal motor for the local economy. Throughout the 0th century, the sta6eholders managing the national par6 and its riverside cities have attempted to apply these contradictory logics while denying the cosmology and practices of the Mapuche. These different territorial perceptions create today a growing num,er of conflicts. Geopolitical sta6es and ur,an sprawl: which conceptions of developmentH The park as a stabilizer of the frontier The long-disputed ,order ,etween Argentina and Chile was esta,lished in 188 , and then was marginally modified in 190 following ar,itration ,y the British crown (Gallois, 1903). The creation of the National Nahuel 4uapi 5ar6 therefore appears as one of the essential historical elements in the political sta,ility of this region ,ordering Chile. In order to avoid new re,ellions that could lead to other conflicts, F. Moreno, highly influential in Argentina, proposed to create protected areas along the ,order with a view to demarcate the territory and to populate the lands with civilians and not the military. In 1903, F. Moreno returned E000 hectares of land that had ,een offered to him, in gratitude for his numerous e9plorations, in the aim of creating these protected areas. On this space, under the name of ASouthern National 5ar6,B the first national Argentinean par6 was esta,lished in 19 . Then, with the creation of the National 5ar6 Administration in 1934, the par6 assumed the name of Nahuel 4uapi. This type of territorial demarcation would ,e e9tensively used in Argentina and in Chile (Fig. ). 4 The cosmology consists of a set of elements and ,eliefs constituent of Mapuche culture. 0 Francisco Moreno was an Argentinean e9plorer, naturalist, and geographer. 6 93 101 inha,itants in 001C 008 estimate, 100 000 (INDEC). E E 0 0 inha,itants in 001C 008 estimate, 10 000 (INDEC). 140 Revue de géographie alpine/Journal of Alpine Research Vol. 98-2010 Conflic s and coopera ion in he moun ainous Mapuche erri ory Figure 2. Border parks and years of creation. Authors’ map, 2009 The ma-ority of pioneer populations, that came to populate the region after the ACon7uest of the Desert,B was foreign (Swiss, German, etc.). 5opulating the territory with pioneers was a type of racismC it was assumed that the pree9isting indigenous population, in this case the aforementioned Mapuche, would not ,e capa,le of developing the territory. 4ere is found a coha,itation of two distinct territorial visions: on one side, the con7uering vision of the pioneers, and on the other, the AdefensiveB vision of the Mapuche. The creation of a national par6 thus represents a verita,le white domination land strategy that generates conflicts. Tourism, an economic stepping stone? For whom? The creation of the par6s acted as an economic stepping stone for the entire region, particularly for initiators of large-scale development pro-ects. This political sta,ili.ing tool would actually prove to ,e a lever for the creation of a huge ur,an and touristic pole (5hoto 1). In 1903, following a national decree, the city of San 141 Revue de géographie alpine/Journal of Alpine Research Vol. 98-2010 Renaud Miniconi, Sylvain )uyo Carlos de Bariloche was ,orn on the ,an6s of Nahuel 4uapi La6e. When the first pioneers settled the land surrounding the la6e, they immediately understood the touristic value of this territory located over la6es and mountainous terrain. During the 19 0s and 30s, this region 6new economic growth than6s to the construction of roads and the creation of touristic transportation companies, along with the setting up of hotel comple9es close to riparian coasts. Photo 1. Newspaper La Razón, dated April 10, 1918. Museum of Patagonia, 2009 Translation: “Creation of the Huge Sourthern National ark: The Nahuel Huapi zone and its beauty - a gathering place for the tourism of the future$.

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