Not one but many, the challenge of dealing with national heritage

ENDERE, MARIA LUZ

Dublin

Congreso; VI World Archaeological Congress; 2008

World Archaeological Congress

The process of building a national heritage may be reconstructed through the analysis of legislation. It lets understand the role of both Indigenous and Colonial past in the definition of nationhood. Changes in legislation are also helpful to evaluate how values evolved through time. In Argentina, the refreshing ideas incorporated to the National Constitution amended in 1994 have not yet been addressed by cultural heritage laws, including intellectual property legislation. Many legal changes are still necessary in order to acknowledge other peoples? past, including indigenous communities. National government has recently supported human right activists in order to create site museums in places used by the last military regime as clandestine prisons. However, this ?heritage? is not easily accepted by society. The aim of this paper is to analyze and discuss the social and legal process of acknowledging new values and new partners concerning cultural heritage in Argentina.