Ser indígena in Nahuel Huapi National Park: traditional knowledge, conservation of nature and non-human

FLORENCIA TRENTINI

Congreso; RAI Anthropology and Conservation Conference; 2021

The Royal Anthropological Institute

The objective of this paper is to historically problematize the category of "indigenous" in Nahuel Huapi National Park, a protected area that, until a few years ago, didn't recognize the existence of indigenous communities within its jurisdiction. This category should be considered in relation to the forms of recognition or non-recognition of indigenous peoples within the nation-state-territory of Argentina, the legal changes that at the national and international level provide rights to these peoples and in accordance with what the Global environmentalism policies are define as "indio verde" or "ecologically noble savages". In this framework, this paper seeks to question the processes of construction of indigenous identities beyond the usual political approach, to place it in the relationships and frameworks that are built between humans and non-humans. This seeks to account how non-human entities play at the moment of constructing and understanding the category of "indigenous" at Nahuel Huapi National Park, and how this network constructs a type of particular indigenous identity crossed by a know-how that must take part in the conservation of nature.