We must place ourselves in Argentina , early twentieth century when there were still indigenous tribes in the Argentine Jungles. Tribes that kept their ancestral customs , away from society and living the life that they wanted to live in freedom and balance with nature.But soon their territory became an object of desire for hundreds of Italian and French settlers.Where the natives saw their way of life, the settlers saw land for exploitation.Maybe knowing the causes, the background and the consequences makes the human being never ever make the same mistakes again.the object of this article that we have titled The Napalpi Massacre, let's start with the background.
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The Napalpi Massacre | Location
Chaco is one of the 23 provinces that make up the Argentine Republic, in its territory it has different indigenous populations such as the qom (tobas), mocovies, wichis (matacos) , among others.The province of Chaco is located in the northeast of Argentina, within the so-called Region of the North Grande Argentino.
Tobas or Qom Indians
This may be the least studied region in Argentina, there are no anthropological data to have a record of the tribes that they populated the region, although it is known that this territory has been occupied since 4,000 BC
Thanks to the records, we know the existence of two large groups or families with common characteristics, including linguistic, these groups were:
- The Guaicuru .Where the pampid tribes, such as mocovies, qom, pilagaes or abipones
- Mataco-Mataguayo .Belonging to the Wichis or Mataco villages, with more Amazonian and Andean influences.
The Napalpi Massacre | Situation before the Massacre
At the end of the 19th century, Argentina launches a military campaign to occupy the indigenous territories of the Chaco region.it was to subdue the peoples but the result was the death of thousands of indigenous people.
Indigenous Tribes of the Chaco Region
The consequences for the region were tragic , the tribes and ethnic groups that inhabited the region of present-day Formosa and Chaco, saw as its society and culture crumbled.
It began to build numerous forts and forts quickly in order to control indigenous movements. The lands that they were taken from from their true owners, they were sold to settlers who came from Europe, preferably Italian and French.
Fortin Fotheringham in Chaco
Extensive areas of forest were converted to cotton cultivation, while the different ethnic groups and tribes were confined to small areas where they were practically used as slaves.
Among these small redoubts where the natives were confined, was Napalpi, a name of origin qom, which meant instead of the dead, no doubt a reflection of what it should be like to live in Napalpi.
Napalpi
Napalpi was founded in 1921 and almost entirely integrated by the ethnic qom, who were forced to work the fields of cotton and sometimes they also had to take care of the neighboring farms.But a law issued in 1924 whereby the population of Napalpi was forced to deliver 15% of its own cotton production to the state, caused great discontent among the indigenous population.
Among the prohibitions to which the indigenous population had been subjected, was the abandonment of their shamanic practices, but the confinement of the tribes and discontent, these began to be used again, but now with a certain messianic air.
Fernando Centeno, governor of the Chaco and promoter of the Napalpi massacre perpetrated by police, army and civilian forces
Different clashes and riots such as the plundering of colony farms, ended the murder in the hands of the police of the Chaman Sorai .Before this terrible event and waiting for reprisals by the indigenous population. The governor of Chaco, began to prepare what would be a terrible and brutal repression.
The Napalpi Massacre | The Massacre
In July 1924 , indigenous people of the ethnic group and mocovi, as protest went on strike A protest denouncing the treatment and exploitation to which they were being subjected by the landowners.
Fernando Centeno was in the area on the same day as the Matanza
As part of his complaint was the need to plan a march from Jump to Jujuy. This act did not please the governor of the region Fernando Centeno, who forbade them to leave the Chaco region.> fear of an uprising , as justified later, I plan a repression that was so remembered that never again would another settlement dare to revolt.
In the early morning of July 19, 1924, the indigenous rebels s were gathered at a shamanic party in the area of Aguara .Aguara was an area considered sacred where religious rites were performed and was within the boundaries of the colony.It was there where the natives danced carrying their weapons that was reduced to simple sticks.
In that early on July 19, a group of 130 men among police, settlers and other white volunteers, surrounded the town, heavily armed with rifles and rifles opened fire on the camp, were 45 minutes of shots in front of a few sticks.
After 45 minutes of shooting, entered and macheted, they killed the few indigenous who were alive, most of them badly wounded, among those who were men, old men, women and children .The killing was terrible, it seemed as if the human being had no limits on his brutality.Some were slaughtered while others were hanged and even some skinned.
The lifeless bodies of the Indians planted the land
The Indians were convinced that their gods would be the ones that would protect them from the weapons of the white men, so they found no resistance, not a single shot left the village, but it is estimated that the soldiers came to shoot more than 5,000 shots.
Mass grave in the village Napalpi
Blood flowed through the streets, atrocities as amputations of members to wear them as trophies, some were even exhibited at the police stations. No there were wounded soldiers, there was no fight, there was no resistance, it was a massacre, which was solved with a common grave where to bury so much corpse.Today that place is called Colonia La Matanza.
The Napalpi Massacre | Consequences of the Massacre
So terrible was the massacre that the newspapers of the time talked about the panic of the Indians while they tried to take refuge and the fury of the police firing on them.
Unfortunately what happened in Napalpi, was not an isolated event, political power and financial power was used thoroughly through police or military forces to snatch the true owners of the land and sell it to the landowners, turn the indigenous into free labor.
Ending a system of life based on equilibrium to turn them into small tribes tuned into small redoubts created for that purpose.
Mural of the Massacre
It took many years until in January 2008, Jorge Capitanich, governor of the province of Chaco, wanted to pay tribute to the victims of the killing apologizing both official and private, especially to the only person who survived this killing, Melitona Enrique of 107 years who would die in November of that same year.
Ch aco apologized-Melitona Enrique
Today the Napalpi Massacre has been listed as a crime against humanity and it is being studied to examine the mass grave where the bodies were deposited, in order to give them a sense of homage and recognition as victims of one of the most terrible massacres, that for a long time remained a hidden story, almost forgotten but today in day it is more alive than ever.
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