Double coloniality in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina: A bioarchaeological and historiographical approach to Selk?nam demographics and health

ROMINA CASALI; ROCÍO GUICHÓN; RICARDO A. GUICHÓN; PAMELA GARCÍA LABORDE; MELISA A. SALERNO

Colonized Bodies, World Transformed. Toward a Global Bioarchaeology of Contact and Colonialism

University Press of Florida

Lugar: Gainesville; Año: 2017; p. 197 - 225

The effective occupation of Tierra del Fuego by Westerners only started at the very end of the 19th century. In this chapter, we will discuss the particular features of colonial relationships in this region. For this purpose, we will consider the health and demographic changes experienced by the Selk´nam community through a bioarchaeological case study of the Salesian mission of Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria (Río Grande, Argentina). First, we will consider the particular features that encouraged cultural interaction in Tierra del Fuego, suggesting that colonialism in the region could be understood in terms of a double coloniality. Second, we will present the results of the analysis of living conditions at the mission, considering the hypothesis that sanitary changes had a negative impact on the demographic dynamics of the Selk´nam community.