Lecciones y proyecciones del “Sumario sobre vejámenes inferidos a indígenas de Tierra del Fuego (1895-1904)” en el camino de la comunidad selk’nam hacia su reconocimiento social y legal
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Date
2021
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Subdirección de Investigación, Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural.
Abstract
Instruido en 1895 a raíz de las acusaciones que publicó un periódico capitalino sobre abusos y matanzas de selk’nam, el “Sumario...” arroja nuevas luces sobre un acontecimiento trascendental en la historia de Chile austral. La presente investigación procura descorrer el velo de las diversas declaraciones que contiene este corpus documental con el propósito de identificar los dos principales discursos que, a partir de la antinomia “civilización”-“barbarie”, sustentaron su posicionamiento respecto a los selk’nam: el que legitimó su exterminio y el que, suponiendo protegerlos, legitimó su abyección cultural, contribuyendo de igual forma al genocidio. Este trabajo invita a hacer una revisión crítica sobre las narrativas de memoria e historia tradicionales, a reflexionar sobre la construcción de memoria-país que se ha cimentado en ellas y a orientar la mirada a la deuda histórica que la sociedad y el Estado aún tienen irresuelta con las actuales demandas de los descendientes selk’nam.
Resulting from the accusations published by a newspaper about abuses and massacres against selk’nam communities in 1895, the “Sumario ...” sheds new light on a momentous event in the history of southern Chile. This research seeks to remove the veil of the different statements contained in this corpus in order to identify the two main discourses that supported their position regarding the selk’nam people, based on the antinomy “civilization”-“barbarism”: the one that legitimized their extermination and the one that legitimized their cultural abjection intending to protect them, contributing nevertheless to the genocide. These pages are an invitation to a critical review about traditional narratives of memory and history so to ponder about the construction of national memory grounded in them and to direct the gaze at the historical debt that society and the state has not yet resolved concerning the current demands of selk’nam descendants.
Resulting from the accusations published by a newspaper about abuses and massacres against selk’nam communities in 1895, the “Sumario ...” sheds new light on a momentous event in the history of southern Chile. This research seeks to remove the veil of the different statements contained in this corpus in order to identify the two main discourses that supported their position regarding the selk’nam people, based on the antinomy “civilization”-“barbarism”: the one that legitimized their extermination and the one that legitimized their cultural abjection intending to protect them, contributing nevertheless to the genocide. These pages are an invitation to a critical review about traditional narratives of memory and history so to ponder about the construction of national memory grounded in them and to direct the gaze at the historical debt that society and the state has not yet resolved concerning the current demands of selk’nam descendants.
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Keywords
Selk'nam, Genocidio, Tierra del Fuego, Magallanes, Sumario judicial, Tierra del Fuego, s. XIX, Genocide, Summary process, 19th century