Amerindian politics in Buenos Aires. The counter-celebration march of October 12 as chronotropic construction

Abstract

Based on research carried out between 2008 and 2014, I argue that the debate process generated over 1992 –the year in which the five centuries of the “discovery” of America were commemorated– resulted in the symbolic reappropriation of the day on which Christopher Columbus arrived to the Caribbean, fostering the crystallization of historic amerindian people historical demands. On October 12 it became a day of reflection, protest, vindication, demonstration and counter-celebration. Through observant participantion from the musical interpretation, complemented with interviews, I suggest that in Buenos Aires –a city imagined as a European enclave– this process led to the establishment of a march that is established and manifested chronotropically: a significant event of the past evoked in the present for political purposes. It is the only annual march in the country led by amerindians people –both foreigners and nationals–, as well as conducted in “festive key” by musicians similar to the festive pasacalles in the central Andes. In this scenario, the music of siku (zampoña or pan flute center-Andean) is the soundtrack of the Amerindian political construction in the city, strengthening links between migrant communities, as well as natives attracted by dynamics of regional vindication.