El trabajo de memoria en el proceso de etnicidad del Pueblo Weenhayek en Argentina. Aproximación desde una historia de vida

Abstract

In this work, we present a record of the life history of Mónica Medina, a member of the Weenhayek Quebracho community located 5 kilometers from Tartagal (Salta Province). In this memoir about her ancestors from three previous generations to the present, Mónica recounts memories of how her family lived through the War of Paraguay that forced them to move; epidemics; the transhumance process and the different expulsions they were subjected to; the ways in which life was transformed as they approached urban centers; the approach to partisan politics and the formation of leaders; the process of forming demands for recognition of ethnic identity and expectations for the future. We understand that this life story, while individual, is inscribed in the collective memory of her family, her community, and her people, as it results from experiencing certain common memories from her trajectory. This record acquires a double epistemic sense here: on the one hand, it allows us to know nodal data about the trajectories and current demands of the Weenhayek People regarding their rights to identity in Argentina, and particularly about the dispute they are fighting for state and social recognition of their pre-existing people’s character; but at the same time, it introduces us to the memory work that is central to the ethnicity process that these Weenhayek communities lead in their demand and exercise of current rights

Keywords

• Weenhayek People
• ethnicity
• memory
• life history