DISPLACEMENTS, SILENCES AND MATERIALITY. THE COMMUNITY OF BASILIO CURRUHUINCA IN THE SOUTHWEST OF CHUBUT, PATAGONIA ARGENTINA

Abstract

From a microhistorical point of view, the archaeological, historical and anthropological approach put into practice seeks to recall the settlement of the Cacique Basilio Curruhuinca community and their daily experiences, after the forced transfer to Chubut as a consequence of the military campaigns at the end of the XIX century. This community, detached from that of Bartolomé Curruhuinca in the Lacar Lake area, managed to settle, having homes, crops and livestock, however the fate of these families was the gradual movement towards marginal areas. A little over 100 years after its establishment in the southwest of Chubut, the weak memory of its presence is contrasted with the material remains of its settlement, along with fragments of local memory. The archaeological research presented here attempts to recover the way of life and everyday life of the now almost unknown and forgotten Mapuche inhabitants of Alto Río Mayo, a few kilometers from Aldea Beleiro.