Pre-Columbian peoples
Numerous pre-Columbian peoples occupied the lands of present-day Argentina before the arrival of Europeans. In the north of the country, particularly in the provinces of Salta and Tucumán, the Diaguitas were farmers whose sophisticated civilization had reached a high level of development. Incorporated into the Inca Empire, they made funerary urns and vases, and organized themselves into separate ethnic villages that shared the cacán language. Other northern ethnic groups include the Comechingones, cave dwellers in the Córdoba region, who wore beards (a rarity among indigenous peoples), and the Humahuacas. The latter were a large confederation of farmers who also excelled in pottery and weaving. The Apatamas lived on the Jujuy Altiplano and traded with the Atacamas of present-day Bolivia. The Guaranis were divided into several groups: the Guaranis of the islands or Chandules (on the islands of the Río Paraná delta), the Guaranis del Carcarañá (province of Santa Fe), the Guaranis of Santa Ana (north of present-day Corrientes), the Cáingang or Cainguás (inside the province of Misiones, towards Corrientes and Entre Ríos, and even as far as Uruguay towards Concordia), and the Chiriguans (Chaco towards Salta and present-day Bolivia).
The Tehuelche and the Mapuche: warrior peoples
These very different tribes shared southern Patagonia before the Conquest of the Desert. Originally, the Mapuche occupied the Chilean part of the Andes, but from the 18th century onwards, the onslaught of Spanish settlers forced them to migrate to Argentina. They mingled with the Tehuelches and even imposed their customs and language on them. More modest in stature, the Mapuche had a more complex society. Their culture was much more developed, notably because they were hunters, but also farmers, and lived sedentary lives on their land. They knew about fabrics and pottery and had their own calendar, which still governs some of their festivities today. Ironically enough (and as in many other colonies of the time), Mapuche writing was born with the expansion of the Spanish and subsequent evangelization. The massacre of the economic conquest in the 19th century did not, however, eradicate the Mapuche presence in the area. Today, it is estimated that some 300,000 Mapuche still live in Argentina.
The peoples of Tierra del Fuego: the Fuegians
There were 7,000 Fuegians in the 19th century, 600 in 1924 and only a hundred in 1940. Today, they have completely disappeared. Three peoples shared the hostile immensities of Argentine Tierra del Fuego: the Haushs (or Manekenk), the Onas (or Selk'nam) and the Yaghans (or Yamanas). Constantly battling the elements of a powerful nature, they represented a miracle of adaptation, despite the atrocious judgments passed on them by Cook, Darwin and Bougainville. Despite geographical and ethnological descriptions and studies, little is known about the history and customs of the Fuegians. The Yamanas were "sea nomads" as well as excellent craftsmen: each made his own tools from wood and bone. Their baskets were made of rushes and used to collect mollusks, shellfish and fruit. On the water, men used crude harpoons to hunt: penguins and cormorants were their favorite booty. Finally, these populations didn't really dress themselves, and their bodies were coated with fish oil and sea mammal fat to protect the skin from the harsh climate. Today, a few mestizos are still present in the town of Rio Gallegos.
The Selknams (or Onas) and Haushs lived on the Atlantic side of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, near present-day Rio Grande. A nomadic people, they roamed the steppe in search of ñandús (the Patagonian ostrich) and guanacos, which they caught on the run! Lucas Bridges, an Anglo-Argentine explorer, describes the subtleties of their social customs: "When they butchered a guanaco, the Onas generally divided the animal into six pieces to facilitate transport. On this occasion, Tamimeoat cut the animal into as many pieces as he had men, and gave each man his share. On each occasion, the recipient was the only one to show any interest in sharing; he would pretend to be tidying the fire or taking off his moccasins, or stare into space, until another member of the group pointed out the gift he had received". No permanent leader ruled the tribes, but a certain hierarchy cemented social ties: shamans were invested with the power to heal; sages were the repositories of mythological traditions; and warriors were respected for their experience: indeed, their position sometimes resembled that of a chief. In the mid-19thcentury , gold seekers settled in the region, led by the famous Romanian engineer Julius Popper, whose photographs lend credence to the theory that he was a ruthless killer of Indians. Then the arrival of Salesian missionaries infected the natives with terrible diseases, and they gradually disappeared: the last of the Onas, Lola Kiepja, died in the 1950s.
Afro-descendants: a forgotten community
Following the arrival of the Conquistadores, Argentina experienced a succession of waves of migration between the 16th and 20th centuries. The first was characterized by the large-scale deportation of Africans between the 17th and 19th centuries, who were forced into slavery. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was massive urban immigration from all over Europe (Italy, Spain, France, England, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Poland...), so much so that the ethnic mix was essentially European, and the population is still characterized by its light skin. But what of the black African community, which today represents just 1.8% of the total population of Argentina? At the beginning of the 19th century, the Afro-Argentine community represented half of the population in the country's largest cities. Stemming from the slave trade practiced by Spain, then by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the deportation of these African peoples played a key role in shaping national culture. Originating from the two Congos, Angola and Guinea, they belonged to the Bantu ethnic family and, deported by the thousands, were exploited as domestic servants or agricultural workers. According to the 1778 census, Buenos Aires was home to 7,268 slaves of African origin - almost a third of the city's population! Yet this collective history has left little trace in today's Argentina, which struggles to highlight its African roots... and with good reason: the whitening of the population dictated by "race supremacy" clearly failed to ensure the survival of the black community. At the end of the 19th century, white immigration was encouraged by the racist ideology of President Domingo Sarmiento - who declared that within twenty years, Argentina "would be rid of the blacks": French, Italians and Spaniards poured in, contributing to the whitening of the population. But beyond the ethnic mix, other truths need to be revealed: many of the descendants of African slaves suffered high mortality rates within their communities. Many fell fighting in the regional wars of the 19th century, others were enlisted in the deadly Paraguayan war, and yellow fever also took its toll on the community. Forced to confine themselves to the same place, and already victims of this viral infection, they were unable to escape it. Finally, many slaves joined the War of Independence, making up 60% of the combatants. General José San Martin had promised slaves freedom if they fought... but the war ended in 1816, and slavery was not abolished until 1853. According to the latest census, 150,000 people identify themselves as Afro-descendants, but researchers believe that nearly 2 million Argentines have African roots. The challenge of uncovering this heritage, ignored by the prejudices of a country that still thinks of itself as a white nation, seems perilous enough. However, this work of remembrance is increasingly echoed: Argentina now dedicates a day to Afro-descendants and celebrates the whole range of historical and current African cultures, while more and more associations are springing up to raise awareness of this history, which is barely touched on in school textbooks.
Spanish settlers and European immigrants
In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was mainly Spanish men who landed and mingled with the local population. Following the indigenous genocide, the land was successively occupied by immigrants dreaming of the New World. Argentina experienced a massive wave of immigration in the mid-19th century. From 1860 onwards, Europeans arrived en masse via the Río de la Plata: at least 4 million immigrants, mainly Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Russians, French Basques, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, English, Irish, Swiss, Croatians, Dutch, Czechs, Lebanese, Syrians... They settled permanently between 1870 and 1930. Argentina became one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. Europeans colonized the pampas and tropical lands of the northeast, but many remained in Buenos Aires, which saw its population rise from 120,000 in 1850 to 1.5 million in 1914. Argentina's demographic behavior is close to that of the industrially developed countries of the Northern Hemisphere, while over 86% of its population is urban. Many Jews, fleeing the pogroms of the time, settled in Argentine Mesopotamia and founded farming communities. They built houses and cooperatives, erected synagogues, schools and libraries. In the 1940s, it was the turn of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany to join their co-religionists in other towns in the region. Patagonia has a number of distinctive settler communities. Firstly, the Welsh were among the first European settlers in the province of Chubut, as early as 1865. The reasons for this immigration were mainly historical and cultural: at the time, the Welsh felt threatened and feared that their community and customs would disappear in the face of British domination. This is why they decided to move overseas to preserve their identity and culture. They settled on the Atlantic coast, founding the towns of Puerto Madryn and Rawson. The expansion of the Welsh did not stop there, however, as they continued to invest in southern territories as far south as the Andes: they also founded Esquel and Trevelín. Finally, although Argentina is often perceived as a safe haven for former Nazis on the run, the first wave of German immigration to Patagonia dates back to the mid-19th century. The Buenos Aires census of 1853 counted no fewer than 2,000 Germans. What's more, after the Second World War, thousands of German officers landed in Argentina. Many of them knew they would be tried for their crimes and actions. So they wanted to escape as far away as possible. Why Argentina? Spain, Italy and Germany, all three allies, already had immigrant communities in Argentina, which facilitated their integration. What's more, the president at the time, Juan Perón, helped several war criminals to settle in his country.
Argentinean Castilian
The result of immigration and miscegenation has been the spread of slang and local languages very specific to Argentina. Examples include "cocoliche", a hybrid language spoken by Italian immigrants to Buenos Aires, who mixed the language of their homeland with the Spanish of their adopted land, or "lunfardo", a slang inherited from the working classes. And although Spanish is the official language, Argentinian Castilian(castellano) has a few specific features that should scare off anyone whose Spanish is limited to a vague academic background. The first rule is that the "ll" followed by a vowel is pronounced more or less "ch". Thus, caballo (horse) is pronounced "cabacho"; calle Lavalle (Lavalle street) is pronounced "caché Lavaché". This distinction will enable you to easily identify an Argentinean in any Spanish-speaking country or, to be more precise, certain Argentines, and especially the Porteño, the inhabitant of Buenos Aires (in the provinces of Misiones or La Rioja, for example, which also have their own way of speaking, this particularity does not apply). Another notable change, which may confuse you at first: the Spanish tú has been replaced by vos, which is accompanied by a particular conjugation. So we'll say vos podés instead of tú puedes, or vos querés instead of tú quieres! Conjugation also allows for a few fantasies: vos tenés from the verb tener, or even vos sos from the verb ser... instead of tú tienes or tú eres. It's a bit of a mess, but on the plus side, this grammatical mutation is always respected, and you get used to it after a while. You may even end up starting your sentences with " Che! " or " Che, loco! " (or even " Che, boludo! ").
