The complexion of northwestern Argentina (NOA)1 is being redefined, especially in border provinces such as Salta and Jujuy. When we reconstruct the history of indigenous peoples, it confirms their preexistence, even before the Inca expansion. For this reason, it is absolutely necessary to inquire about their hidden genealogies and ways of survival—through song, storytelling, medicine, ancestral food practices, spirituality, creations in chaguar, leather, stone, etc., and the teachings of our elders. Their hands, their eyes, the timbre of their voices, and their words hold the living memory of a culture and a language that resist oblivion. The puna, the valleys and ravines, the forests and the sierras, the mountains and the rivers, which know no imaginary borders, protect our footprints, assert our place of belonging, and wait for us to come together in communion for this timeless refuge.
Necessary Threshold
The data from the National Census of Population, Homes and Dwellings carried out in Argentina in 2022 is conclusive. The presence of indigenous peoples throughout the country shows a growing concern for visibility and recognition. This implies an appeal to review the history we have been taught so far—always incomplete—to move toward, sooner or later, the construction of a plurinational State, with a comprehensive system of rights for all. The following is a brief presentation of the peoples that inhabit the territory as a means to reclaim their preexistence.
In March of 2024, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) released the results of the last Argentinian census, which took place during the post-pandemic period. In reference to the ethnic identity of the population, 1,306,730 people identified themselves as indigenous or descendants of native peoples, which corresponds to 2.9% of the total number of inhabitants. This shows an increase of 0.5% in indigenous self-recognition, compared to the 2010 census, when the percentage reached 2.4% (an equivalent of 955,032 people).
Out of the 24 jurisdictions2 that make up the country, the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Chubut, Formosa, Neuquén, and Río Negro have the highest number of indigenous peoples. These same jurisdictions showed the highest percentages in the 2010 census, although in a different order, with Chubut and Neuquén holding the first place with 8.7% and 8% of the total, respectively. In this new edition, Jujuy registered 10.1% and Salta, 10%.
Courtesy of the San Carlos Department Craftsmen’s Catalog
The map of “Pueblos Naciones Originarias,” prepared by the National Congress of Indigenous Peoples’ Territorial Organizations (ENOTPO),3 shows that, as of 2015, there are 38 indigenous nations officially recognized in Argentina.4 This number is inconclusive, since these communities go through a permanent processes of identity reconstruction, where different historical, symbolic, territorial, organizational, migratory, political, etc., factors intervene. Thus, for example, the results from the 2022 census recognize 58 nations throughout the country,5 where the Mapuche, Guaraní, Diaguita, Qom/Toba, Kolla, and Wichí show the highest population density.
Another significant fact is that 29.3% of the total number of people belonging to an indigenous community understand or speak their native language. While this is an important bastion for the struggle of cultural and linguistic visibility (especially outside the communities), we must warn that this percentage by no means reflects the complexity of the processes behind these nations and their languages. Several communities are undertaking diverse actions to recover and revitalize their mother tongues, many of which are not known beyond their own “borders.” Therefore, focusing on this point compels us to pay close attention not only to languages that hold great vitality, but also to those that are in the process of being restored through community efforts and initiatives.
Salta’s Indigenous Genealogies
Salta is a province located in the northwestern region of Argentina, which borders with Chile to the west, Bolivia to the north, and Paraguay to the northeast. It has an extensive area of 96,616 square miles, with a terrain that ranges from high peaks of more than 19,685 feet to the tropical eastern plains. As a result, it is a territory with a wide range of climates and ecological diversity (Buliubasich and Rodríguez, 2009).
Nine languages are spoken in Salta: Ava Guaraní, Chané, Tapiete, Q’om, Wichí, Chorote or Manjui, Nivaclé or Chulupí, Aymara, and Quechua.
In the continent we know today as South America, Salta has been a transit route of populations from north to south and vice versa since pre-Hispanic times. Its geographical position allowed it to be the ideal scenario for commercial exchange, communication, and the movement of nomadic communities. Although it was a transitional zone, like the rest of the provinces that today make up the NOA, several historical texts show that at the beginning of the 16th century this region was the most populated in the souther continent, with an estimated 200,000 inhabitants. It also possessed a great cultural diversity, showing a mosaic of local populations with a permanent and constant relationship between them (Di Fabio Rocca, 2016).
It is estimated that the Inca period in the NOA region began around 1480, when the empire was making advances toward economic domination and exploitation, particularly for mining useful and precious metals. The Incas used Quechua as their lingua franca to expand the empire throughout the continent, and they built an extensive network of collcas (deposits) located in the pukara, enclaves or strategic fortresses that controlled the acquired resources and circulation routes. The distribution of this infrastructure throughout the territory delineated the qhapaq ñan, an expansive network of “military” roads that mostly utilized the system of routes that had already been traced by the flow of preexisting peoples.
The continental expansion of the Inca empire had a strong material and socio-political imprint. Their tentacular advance stemmed from their military might, transport means such as the llama, and their food preservation techniques. Additionally, they opted for transculturalization, using assimilation strategies, for example, by incorporating local divinities into their own beliefs. In cases where peaceful strategies failed, they forcibly relocated local inhabitants to other administrative centers under empire control. These migrations sometimes resulted in the extermination of the resulting mitimaes (exiles), due to the difficulties of the journey and unfamiliar habitat.
The Inca influence on NOA’s local communities, however, was different. The peoples that inhabited the eastern part of the provinces of Salta, Tucumán, and almost the entire territory of Santiago del Estero,6 kept a certain independence from the Incas. Populations like the Chaco,7 the Lule, and the Ava Guaraní underwent a slight process of Andeanization, but they did not lose their own cultural traits and retained their mother tongues. On the contrary, the populations that opted for making “alliances” with the Inca were those that lived in the higher altitude areas and in the ravines, such as the Atacama, Omaguaca, and Tastil, although they did not completely abandon their cultures and, in the case of the former, kept their language. Despite the resistance of the Diaguita Calchaquí people, the valleys located at the foot of the Andean mountains also became part of the Inca wamani (state).
The Spanish conquest of the NOA began in 1553 with the foundation of Santiago del Estero, followed by San Miguel de Tucumán (1565), Salta (1582), La Rioja (1591), and San Salvador de Jujuy (1593). During the first years of colonization, there were numerous conflicts between the local inhabitants and the conquistadors. The populations of the puna of Salta, Jujuy, and Catamarca remained impregnable for over 100 years against the Spanish subjugation. The valleys united to fight against their common enemy,8 while some communities opted for isolation in places that presented many difficult living conditions. These events changed the population characteristics, especially in the valleys, not only because of the number of casualties during confrontations, but also because of the forced relocation of defeated nations.
The distribution of these communities overflow across jurisdictional borders throughout the territory, sketching a map that testifies to their ancestry and their resistance to a violent history.
During the colonial period, the physiognomy of the NOA was consolidated as a transitional and border zone. Its organization and denomination underwent some changes during the colonial period, according to the expansionist, political, and economic interests and processes of the conquerors, but its strategic routes were preserved. The roads served a main function: for the commercialization of the riches extracted from the dominated soil and for the transfer of indigenous encomiendas (forced labor system) and enslaved Africans9 to the mines of Potosí (Bolivia) or other parts of the continent. The subjugated local populations were dismembered, and their cultures began a process of hybridization, as well as of silence and concealment.
Scholars Zulma Palermo and Elena Altuna (1996) argue that since the creation of the Tucuman governorship,10 what we now call NOA was under a double administration: the Viceroyalty of Peru, politically and economically, and the Real Audiencia de la Plata, judicially. That is, the northwest of Argentina is historically linked to the Andean region, since pre-Hispanic times, as well as to the Río de la Plata region to the east, with an accentuated cultural influence over time. This double affiliation has crossed the history of NOA societies since colonial times, but never in a harmonious way. The friction between both heritages—through the recognition or denial of one or the other—materialized in different ways; we only need to review the history of the foundation of the Argentine national State and its provincial governments.
Palermo and Altuna sowed the seeds and left the door open to continue thinking about the cultural history of the region. Today, the tree of affiliations reveals and unfolds new branches. Today the “struggle” is not only between the recognition of the Andean or the rioplatense identity, but also the new memory and identity struggles of the indigenous peoples who, for a long time, were silent. The ruminative memory, the urgency to speak up, the common fellowship, the organization for the struggle, and also a set of legal tools—such as the creation of the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI), in 1985, and the incorporation of Art. 75 Inc. 17 in the Argentine Constitution11—encourage and support this agency for identity, culture, language, and territorial sovereignty.
“Salta is Indigenous,” the Rivers Sing with Their Stones, While Mother Earth Roars
Nine indigenous nations are officially recognized in the province: Chané, Chorote, Chulupí, Diaguita-Calchaquí, Guaraní, Kolla, Tapiete, Qom, and Wichí. While the Atacama, Lule, Iogys, Tastil, and Weenhayek peoples are waiting for Congress to approve a bill to amend Law No. 7121 on the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Salta.12 The reform consists of replacing Art. 5 for one that specifies the number of native peoples jurisdictionally recognized and entitled to representation within the Provincial Institute of Indigenous Peoples of Salta.
The five nations seeking recognition present different situations with respect to their national and provincial institutionalization, based on the paths and interests that have arisen according to each historical characteristic and organizational mode. For example, the Lule people received support from the INAI Resolution No. 0539/2006, which grants them legal status. Additionally, the National Program of Territorial Survey of Indigenous Communities (Programa Nacional de Relevamiento Territorial de Comunidades Indígenas), under Law No. 26160, recognizes the territorial sovereignty of the Lule indigenous communities of Finca Las Costas, the Capital, and the Department of Rosario de Lerma. Thanks to these legal provisions, the Lule presence is undeniable at the national level, although the provincial process is (still) being delayed.
It is time to rethink the face of Salta “the beautiful,” as it is called from a European heritage and folklorist perspective, with the goal of bringing these genealogies to light, which have been so far deliberately overshadowed.
Nine native languages are spoken in Salta: Ava Guaraní, Chané, Tapiete, Q’om, Wichí, Chorote or Manjui, Nivaclé or Chulupí, Aymara, and Quechua. Although the province does not fully have regulations toward linguistic heritage, nor have they made individual language rights visible (Casimiro Córdoba, 2019); in 2021, the Senate and House of Representatives sanctioned Law No. 8253, which promotes the safeguarding of native languages and the recognition of the Unified Wichí Lhamtes Alphabet.13 This document, which provides the alphabet’s legal, linguistic, and social foundations, is the result of a series of actions taken by the Wichí Lhamtes Council since 1998, such as consultation meetings on the language with the participation of authorities and members of the communities of Chaco, Formosa and Salta, workshops,14 the elaboration of materials,15 pilot training programs for bilingual teaching assistants, etc. The hard work of the council was (and is) supported by the TEPEYAC Association of the National Aboriginal Pastoral Team, the Acompañamiento Social Foundation of the Anglican Church in northern Argentina, and the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities at the National University of Salta.
The enactment of this law is a key milestone for undertaking the institutionalization of each mother tongue and to make visible local revitalization projects undertaken by indigenous groups. A significant case is that of the herabun (language and culture keepers and teachers) of the Atacama communities of Salta and Jujuy who—without any kind of state sponsorship—are in the process of researching and producing a series of primers to systematize and safeguard the Kunza language and, consequently, to carry out its teaching. These communities are part of the Atacama Peoples Network which, in addition to Argentina, extend into Bolivia and Chile. The work of the “traditional educators” in the region relies on the kind support of neighboring countries, where this project was previously carried out and where the Kunza language is being promoted and revitalized.
Salta shelters five of the six most numerous indigenous peoples in the country: Guaraní, Diaguita, Qom, Kolla, and Wichí. Like them, the Atacama, Chorote, and Lule are characteristic for their presence beyond borders; that is, the distribution of these communities overflow across jurisdictional borders throughout the territory, sketching a map that testifies to their ancestry and their resistance to a violent history. Such signs proclaim the imminence of the indigenous peoples in the province. It is time to rethink the face of Salta “the beautiful,” as it is called from a European heritage and folklorist perspective, with the goal of bringing these genealogies to light, which have been so far deliberately overshadowed. Future discussions should address the multiple heritages that run through our bodies and memories, without favoring any identity over the others, since only with the recognition of the voice and representation of all peoples, will we be ready to move toward the effective construction of a pluricultural State.
History is irrefutable, Salta is indigenous, and moves forward in search for its genealogies. The rivers sing with their stones, encouraging our steadfast journey. Mother Earth roars, celebrating the warmth of our throats that tirelessly shout where we come from and where we want to go. Not a step back. For Salta “the beautiful”? For Salta the indigenous.
Consejo Wichí Lhämtes/Consejo de la lengua wichí. Salta, Argentina: Artes Gráficas Crivelli.
Casimiro Córdoba. (2019). Patrimonio lingüístico y cultural de los Pueblos Originarios de Salta. Manual Digital. Fondo Ciudadano de Desarrollo Cultural, Ministerio de Cultura, Turismo y Deporte de la provincia de Salta.
ENOTPO. (n.d.). Protocolo de Consulta Previa, Libre e Informada a Pueblos Originarios en Argentina.
Palermo, Z. y Altuna, E. (1996). “Región cultural y región literaria.” Una literatura y su historia, Fascículo 2. Salta: Ciunsa, pp. 1-18.
Schmidt, M. A. (2011). “Pueblos indígenas, Estado y territorio en tiempos interculturales en la provincia de Salta.” Estudio socioterritoriales. Revista de geografía, No. 10, pp. 13-40.
Zigarán, J. y Barrios, S. (1996). “Cultura y textualidad amerindia”. Una literatura y su historia” Fascículo 3. Salta: Ciunsa, pp. 1-22.
FOOTNOTES
The NOA is made up of the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Catamarca, and La Rioja. ↩︎
Twenty-three provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. ↩︎
The National Congress of Indigenous Peoples’ Territorial Organizations (ENOTPO) was established in 2009 as a space for the articulation of indigenous territorial policies at the national level, with the objective of “going beyond resistance, to take into our own hands the definitions concerning the present and future of the Indigenous Peoples.” ↩︎
The nations newly identified in the 2022 census are: Alakaluf, Ansilta, Aoniken, Aymara, Corundí, Chana, Churumata, Diaguita Cacano, Fiscara, Guarayo, Günün a Küna, Haush/Maneken, Isoceño, Jujuí, Kolla Atacameño, Mak’a, Michilingüe, Minuán, Toara, and Wayteca/Chono. It should be noted that, with the exception of the Aymara people who registered 19,247 self-reported individuals, all the others have a lower percentage of natives. ↩︎
The Gran Chaco Gualamba includes the eastern part of Salta and Santiago del Estero, the provinces of Formosa and Chaco, and sections of countries such as Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. It was inhabited by hunting and gathering groups of Amazonian origin, who moved through the aforementioned territory. The peoples that belong to the Amazonian family include: the Chané, Chiriguano, Wichí, Chorote, Toba, Pilagá, Mocoví, etc. ↩︎
An example of indigenous resistance in the NOA is the Calchaquí wars between the Diaguita people and the Spanish, which lasted from 1560 to 1667. ↩︎
Faced with a reduction of indigenous labor force due to wars, persecution, displacement, and epidemics, the trafficking of enslaved people became important in the colony. Thus, as the cities of the NOA were founded, the Spaniards brought enslaved people from sub-Saharan Africa, who entered through the continental slave trade route, which started in Buenos Aires, passed through Córdoba and was distributed through the NOA and Upper Peru (Di Fabio Rocca, 2016). ↩︎
The governorship of Tucumán expanded from Jujuy, bordering to the north with Alto Perú, to the east with the Gran Chaco, to the west with the Almagro or Nevada Mountain Range, and to the south with the Río de La Plata. Back then, it was considered the largest territory in the continental south. ↩︎
Article 75 recognizes the ethnic and cultural preexistence of Argentina’s indigenous peoples, guarantees respect for their identity and the right to intercultural and bilingual education, among others. ↩︎
By the end of 2019, the Senate took the first step towards authorizing the modification of the law. ↩︎
In “El alfabeto—Lengua Wichi,” Verónica Nercesian refers to the work carried out on the Wichí language since the 19th century. She also shows the current unified alphabet. ↩︎
The documentary “Letes Lepes I and II,” by filmmaker Daniela Seggiaro, shows some of the trajectory of the Wichi Lhämtes Council, filmed during the workshops held in 2015, in the town of Morillo, at the Tepeyac Training Center, the council’s headquarters. ↩︎
Such as the publication of the book Las Palabras de la Gente. Alfabeto unificado para wichi lhämtes: proceso de consulta y participación, by the National University of Salta (2000), the series N’olhamelh, five children’s books in Wichí (2006), among others. ↩︎
Trabajadora de la cultura e investigadora de la provincia de Salta, Argentina.
Referente del proyecto cultural «Memorias en vuelo: registro sonoro de la experiencia de los pueblos indígenas de Salta durante la última dictadura». Integrante de proyectos de investigación sobre las trayectorias educativas de estudiantes de Educación Media en contextos interculturales.
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