Indigenous peoples in Argentina

Native Argentines (Spanish: Argentinos nativos), also known as Indigenous Argentines (Spanish: Argentinos indígenas), are Argentines who have predominant or total ancestry from one of the 39 groups of indigenous peoples officially recognized by the national government. As of the 2022 census [INDEC], some 1,306,730 Argentines (2.83% of the country's population) self-identify as indigenous or first-generation descendants of indigenous peoples.
The most populous indigenous groups were the Aonikenk, Kolla, Qom, Wichí, Diaguita, Mocoví, Huarpes, Mapuche and Guarani. Many Argentines also identify as having at least one indigenous ancestor; a genetic study conducted by the University of Buenos Aires in 2011 showed that more than 56% of the 320 Argentines sampled were shown to have at least one indigenous ancestor in one parental lineage and around 11% had indigenous ancestors in both parental lineages.
The Jujuy Province, in the Argentine Northwest, is home to the highest percentage of indigenous people with 10.07%, followed by Salta with 9.96% and Chubut with 7.92%.
The earliest known evidence of indigenous peoples in Argentina is dated 11,000 BC and was discovered in what is now known as the Piedra Museo archaeological site in Santa Cruz Province. The Cueva de las Manos, also in Santa Cruz, is over 10,000 years old. Both are among the oldest evidence of indigenous culture in the Americas, and have, with a number of similarly ancient sites on other parts of the southern hemisphere, challenged the "Clovis First" hypothesis on the settlement of the Americas (the assumption, based on lacking evidence to the contrary, that the Clovis culture was the first in the Western Hemisphere).
By the year 1500, many different indigenous communities lived in what is now modern Argentina. They were not a unified group but many independent ones, with distinct languages, societies, and relations with each other. As a result, they did not face the arrival of the Spanish colonization as a single block and had varied reactions toward the Europeans. The Spanish people looked down on the indigenous population, considering them inferior to themselves. For this reason, they kept very little historical information about them.
In the 19th century major population movements altered the original Patagonian demography. Between 1820 and 1850 the original Aonikenk people were conquered and expelled from their territories by invading Mapuche (that called them Tehuelches) armies. By 1870 most of northern Patagonia and the south east Pampas were Araucanized. During the Generation of 1880, European immigration was strongly encouraged as a way of occupying an empty territory, configuring the national population and, through their colonizing effort, gradually incorporating the nation into the world market. These changes were perhaps best summarized by the anthropological metaphor which states that “Argentines descend from ships.” The strength of the immigration and its contribution to the Argentine ethnography is evident by observing that Argentina became the country in the world that received the second highest number of immigrants, with 6.6 million, second only to the United States with 27 million, and ahead of countries such as Canada, Brazil, Australia, etc.
The expansion of European immigrant communities and the railways westward into the Pampas and south into Patagonia was met with Malón raids by displaced tribes. This led to the Conquest of the Desert in the 1870s, which resulted in over 1,300 indigenous dead. Indigenous cultures in Argentina were consequently affected by a process of invisibilization, promoted by the government during the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th.
The extensive explorations, research and writing by Juan Bautista Ambrosetti and other ethnographers during the 20th century, which followed earlier pioneer studies by anthropologists such as Robert Lehmann-Nitsche, encouraged wider interest in indigenous people in Argentina, and their contributions to the nation's culture were further underscored during the administration of President Juan Perón in the 1940s and 1950s as part of the rustic criollo culture and values exalted by Perón during that era. Discriminatory policies toward these people and other minorities officially ended, moreover, with the August 3, 1988, enactment of the Antidiscrimination Law (Law 23.592) by President Raúl Alfonsín, and were countered further with the establishment of a government bureau, the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI), in 1995. Corrientes Province, in 2004, became the first in the nation to award an indigenous language (Guaraní) with co-official status, and all 35 native peoples were recognized by both the 2004 Indigenous Peoples Census and by their inclusion as self-descriptive categories in the 2010 census; indigenous communities and Afro-Argentines thus became the only groups accorded any recognition as ethnic categories by the 2010 census.
As of the 2010 census [INDEC], some 955,032 Argentines (2.38% of the country's population) self-identify as indigenous or first-generation descendants of indigenous peoples.
The first government-led effort to produce accurate statistical data on the country's indigenous peoples was the 2001 national census, which included a question on self-identification with indigenous nations. A more in-depth statistical survey came in 2004, with the Complimentary Survey on Indigenous Populations carried out by the National Institute for Indigenous Affairs (INAI). The 2004 survey which accounted for 600,329 people who see themselves as descending from or belonging to indigenous people. Indigenous organisations have questioned the factual accuracy of the 2004 survey: First, the methodology used in the survey was considered inadequate, as a large number of indigenous people live in urban areas where the survey was not fully conducted. Second, many indigenous people in the country hide their identity for fear of discrimination. Moreover, when the survey was designed in 2001, it was based on the existence of 18 known peoples in the country, opposed to the more than 31 groups recognized by the INAI today. This increase reflects a growing awareness amongst indigenous people in terms of their ethnic belonging.
As many Argentines either believe that the majority of the indigenous have died out or are on the verge of doing so, or 'their descendants' assimilated into Western civilisation many years ago, they wrongly hold the idea that there are no indigenous people in their country. The use of pejorative terms likening the indigenous to lazy, idle, dirty, ignorant and savage are part of the everyday language in Argentina. Due to these incorrect stereotypes many indigenous have over the years been forced to hide their identity in order to avoid being subjected to racial discrimination.
As of 2011 many natives were still being denied land and human rights. Many of the Qom native community had been struggling to protect the land they claim as ancestral territory and even the lives of its members. Qom community leader Félix Díaz claimed that his people were being denied medical assistance, did not have access to drinking water, and were subject to arbitrary rises on food prices by non-indigenous businesses. He also claimed the local justice system refused to hear the local community's complaints.
The INAI, which reports to the Argentine Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, is tasked with overseeing the government's indigenous policy and maintaining track of Argentina's indigenous communities and their rights to their ancestral lands. As of 2018, the INAI kept register of 1,653 communities, of which 1,456 held legal ownership over various territories.
In addition to the indigenous population in Argentina, most Argentines are descendants of indigenous peoples or have some indigenous ancestry. Many genetic studies have shown that Argentina's genetic footprint is primarily, but not overwhelmingly, European. In a genetic study involving 441 Argentines from across the North East, North West, Southern, and Central provinces (especially the urban conglomeration of Buenos Aires) of the country, it was observed that 65% of the Argentine population was of European descent, followed by 31% of indigenous descent, and 4% of African descent.
The same study also found there were great differences in the ancestry amongst Argentines as one traveled across the country. For example, the population in the North West provinces of Argentina (including the province of Salta) were on average of 66% indigenous, 33% European, and 1% of African ancestry. The European immigration to this North West part of the country was limited and the original indigenous population largely thrived after their initial decline owing to the introduction of European diseases and colonization. Similarly, the study also showed that the population in the North Eastern provinces of Argentina (for example, Misiones, Chaco, Corrientes, and Formosa) were on average 43% of indigenous, 54% European, and 3% of African ancestry. The population of the Southern provinces of Argentina, such as Río Negro and Neuquén, were on average 40% of indigenous, 54% European, and 6% of African ancestry. Finally, only in areas of massive historical European immigration in Argentina, namely the Central provinces (Buenos Aires and the surrounding urban areas), Argentines were of overwhelmingly European ancestry, with the average person having 17% indigenous, 76% European, and 7% of African ancestry.
In another study, that was titled the Regional pattern of genetic admixture in South America, the researchers included results from the genetic study of several hundreds of Argentines from all across the country. The study indicated that Argentines were as a whole made up of 38% indogenous, 58.9% of European, and 3.1% of African ancestry. Again, there were huge difference in the genetic ancestry from across the various regions of the country. For example, Argentines who hailed from Patagonia were 45% indigenous and 55% of European ancestry. The population in the North West part of the country were made up of 69% of indigenous, 23% of European, and 8% of African ancestry. The population in the Gran Chaco part of the country were 38% of indigenous, 53% of European, and 9% of African ancestry. The population in the Mesopotamian part of the country were 31% of indigenous, 63% of European, and 6.4% of African ancestry. Finally, the population in the Pampa region of the country were 22% of indigenous, 68% of European, and 10% of African ancestry.
Finally, in another study published in 2005 involving the North Western provinces of the country, the genetic structure of 1293 individuals from Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Catamarca and La Rioja was analysed. This study showed that the Spanish contribution (50%) predominated in Argentina's North West, followed by the Amerindian (40%) and African (10%) contributions. According to this study, Argentines from Jujuy were 53% indigenous, 47% European, and 0.1% African ancestry. Argentines from Salta were 41% of indigenous, 56% of European, and 3.1% of African ancestry. Those from Catamarca were 37% of indigenous, 53% of European, and 10% of African ancestry. Those from La Rioja were on average 31% indigenous, 50% European, and 19% African ancestry. The inhabitants of Santiago del Estero were on average 30% indigenous, 46% European, and 24% African ancestry. The inhabitants of Tucumán were on average 24% indigenous, 67% European, and 9% African ancestry.
According to the 2010 census there are the following indigenous groups:
According to the 2022 census there are the following indigenous groups:
This region includes the provinces of Chaco, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Misiones, Santa Fe, and parts of Santiago del Estero Province.
This region includes the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta, San Juan, parts of Santiago del Estero Province, and Tucumán.
This region includes the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, La Pampa, Mendoza, and San Luis.
This region includes the provinces of Chubut, Neuquén, Río Negro, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego.