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  • Indigenous peoples in Argentina

    Indigenous peoples in Argentina

    The most recent national census in 2010 gave a total of 955,032 people self-identifying as descended from or belonging to an indigenous peoples' group.

Argentina

Indigenous Peoples in Argentina

Argentina is a federal country with 23 provinces and with a national population of approximately 40 million. The most recent national census (2010) gave a total of 955,032 people who self-identify as descended from or belonging to an Indigenous People. There are 35 different officially recognised Indigenous Peoples in the country. They legally hold specific constitutional rights at the federal level and in various provincial states.

Argentina has voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ratified ILO Convention 169. The country has also ratified other universal human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Main challenges for Argentina’s Indigenous Peoples

The tensions and conflicts over Indigenous Peoples’ land claims worsened in 2017. The State of Argentina failed to guarantee and enforce Indigenous rights over land, and moreover, criminalised the members of Indigenous communities who called out for this failure. In the context of this scenario and the confrontation between the two parts, there have been numerous acts of violence, and even deaths of indigenous activists, as it is the case of Santiago Maldonado.

The tension over land sees one of its roots in the economic interest in extractive activities on the territories claimed by Indigenous Peoples, as guaranteed rights of Indigenous Peoples, is incompatible with the neo-developmentalist economic model that is based precisely on these extractive activities.

Potential progress for Argentina’s Indigenous Peoples

With the aim of reducing levels of violenece, spaces for intercultural dialogue were created during 2017. The peace and intercultural dialogue committee that was created nationally brought together representatives of different political spaces, civil society organisations, intellectuals, with the aim of finding a political response to the tensions that would enable Argentina to set aside the use of force when resolving territorial conflicts, and instead find peaceful and agreed solutions.

Some of the documents that have emerged from this space reflect on the portrayal of indigenous Mapuche as violent terrorists.

Cartographies of Disaster and Memory: The Pilagá and Colonial Violence

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BY CARLOS SALAMANCA VILLAMIZAR FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

In 1947, the National Gendarmerie entered the traditional territory of the Pilagá people and killed dozens of Indigenous men, women, and children. The event became known as the “Pilagá Massacre” or the “Rincón Bomba Massacre”. It was only in 2019 that the Argentine judiciary recognised the responsibility of the National State and underscored the collective nature of the harm inflicted. Mapping initiatives have since made it possible to reconstruct the violent acts that foreshadowed the massacre, as well as the Gendarmerie’s assaults on Pilagá people who attempted to escape. Eight decades on, the restitution of territories violently seized from Indigenous communities remains unfulfilled.

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A Just Energy Transition? The Impacts of Lithium Extraction on the Andean Salt Flats of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile

Written on . Posted in News

BY JOSÉ AYLWIN FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

The rapid extraction of lithium from the high Andean salt flats has caused serious harm to Indigenous Peoples’ right to a healthy environment and access to water. It has particularly affected traditional activities such as camelid herding (llamas, guanacos, and vicuñas) and the cultivation of quinoa and maize. Given the central role that lithium now plays globally in the energy transition, and the concentration of its reserves in this region, it is crucial to ask whether the transition is truly just for these peoples and their communities. All the evidence suggests that it is not — and that fundamental changes are urgently needed.

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An Unrelenting Contempt: Milei’s Offensive Against Indigenous Rights

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BY ALEXIA CAMPOS FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES 

The government is moving to repeal the Indigenous territorial emergency law that halts evictions while it promotes bills on Indigenous consultation and communal property that require communities to obtain legal personhood to have their rights recognized. Simultaneously, it dismantles the registry that grants such status and enacts the Large investment Incentive Regime, accelerating extractivism in Indigenous territories. This triad is merciless: financial capital, territorial (de)regulation, and the suspension of legal personhood as a tool of control. What is striking is not its intent but the method: the relentless speed of its cruelty.

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Indigenous Peoples and the Energy Transition: Mining and Pollution in Argentina

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BY SANDRA CEBALLOS FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

For over 50 years, through their steadfast activism, the Indigenous movement has played a key role in the international arena, achieving recognition of our collective rights as peoples within nation-states. Today, climate change — which threatens all of humanity and our Mother Earth — demands that we continue to hold States accountable. Indigenous Peoples are without doubt among those most severely affected by global warming. The energy transition required to address climate change must respect the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, incorporate our ancestral knowledge, and align with the goals of sustainable development.

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The Indigenous World 2025: Argentina

Written on . Posted in Argentina

Argentina is a federal country comprising 23 provinces and one autonomous city (Buenos Aires, the capital) with a total population of 45,892,285 million people, according to the 2022 census data. This last census recorded 1,306,730 people in private households who self-recognized as Indigenous or descendants of Indigenous Peoples, accounting for 2.9% of the total population in this type of housing. In turn, the results of the census determined the existence of 58 Indigenous Peoples. Legally, they have specific constitutional rights at the federal level and in most provincial states.

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The Indigenous World 2024: Argentina

Written on . Posted in Argentina

Argentina is a federal country made up of 23 provinces and an autonomous city (Buenos Aires, the capital), with a total population of 45,892,285 million people, according to the 2022 census data. This last census does not provide specific information on the number of people in the country who are Indigenous or who perceive themselves as Indigenous. There are 35 officially-recognized Indigenous Peoples, although the process of identity recovery is a dynamic one and this number can vary, up to around 40 peoples, according to their organizations.

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IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Read more.

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Indigenous World

IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.

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