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 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.
Argentina has one of the most important and sensitive bioanthropological collections in Latin America. Most of the remains in museums come from Tehuelche and Mapuche victims of the so-called "Conquest of the Desert". However, in recent decades museums have begun to be more receptive to the claims of Indigenous communities and have even adopted active restitution policies, a trend that is steadily growing internationally. With more updated legislation, collective restitutions have been made, including: the return of the chiefs Modesto Inakayal and Mariano Rosas to their descendants; the return of a Toi moko (preserved head) to Aotearoa-New Zealand and of two Guanche mummies to the Canary Islands.
The Truth Trial for the Napalpí Massacre that took place in 1924 recognised the State’s responsibility in the crimes of aggravated homicide and subjection to servitude as crimes against humanity committed as part of a process of genocide. In addition, it stipulated a series of reparatory measures such as progress in identifying the location of the mass graves and the establishment of a memorial site.
The criminal procedure confronted by Reina Meraz, a Bolivian immigrant woman, exposes a double issue of the Argentinian judicial system: the need to train judicial officers in both gender perspective and interculturalism. Reina was subjected to a procedure that neglected her native tongue, Quechua, and was condemned to a life sentence on the back of a defective argumentation that disregarded the dynamics of gender violence. Ultimately, Reina was absolved amid a context of popular and feminist mobilizations, and concerted efforts between State agencies, non-governmental organizations and social movements.*
Argentina is a federal country made up of 23 provinces plus an autonomous city (Buenos Aires, the capital), with a total population of close to 47 million people, according to initial data from 2022. The 2010 national census gives a total of 955,032 people self-identifying as descending from or belonging to Indigenous Peoples, and there is still no final data from the last census conducted in 2022.
The most recent national census from 2010 gives a total of 955,032 people self-identifying as descendants of or belonging to Indigenous Peoples, out of a total of 45 million inhabitants. There are 35 officially recognised Indigenous Peoples, although given the dynamic of processes for recovering their identity, this number may change. Legally, they have specific constitutional rights at the federal level and in several provincial states. In addition, a set of human rights contemplated in various international instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are of constitutional force in the country. ILO Convention 169 is of supra-legal hierarchy (i.e. it does not form part of the body of constitutional rules and regulations) and was ratified in 2000. The United Nations and American Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are also of regulatory effect.
Argentina comprises 23 provinces with a total 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.
In addition, ILO Convention 169 and 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) are of constitutional force in the country. Argentina voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Read more.
