This book explores the delineation for Patagonia from both perspectives. From the sources that I have gathered in the libraries of Madrid, Seville and Paris, one can see that until now, the main objective of the Argentine and Chilean republics has been centered on the recognition of their own frontiers and, in particular, of those related to the border between the east and west, between the Atlantic Ocean, the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
The analysis presented here does not pretend to be an investigation or compilation of references. The challenge here is the search for knowledge in a wider prespective, looking at the subject through a different and more contemporary prism, in order to discover the original and natural frontiers of Patagonia and thus get closer to the reality of its territorial boundaries for those who lived in this vast area for over 14,200 years.
My starting point in this book is therefore a look at the indigenous territories of Patagonia as a whole, because I believe these clearly define the region, not the definitions imposed by Europeans, who exterminated the indigenous population of the southern continent, specifically during the ‘Conquest of the Desert’ carried out in the Argentine Republic under General Julio Argentino Roca. This was a military campaign against the Tehuelches (Patagons) in 1879 that resulted in the elimination of Eastern Patagonia’s largest indigenous race. Thousands of native Indians died, 13,000 were made prisoners, and another 3,000 were separated by sex and sent to Buenos Aires, where the women were distributed like slaves across the various neighborhoods of the capital city of Argentina, and the men were either conscripted into the military and the navy or forced to work in the sugar plantations. “In this way, after having separated families, physical and cultural reproduction and continuity was effectively eliminated.”(1) It was these atrocities carried out by the White Man against the Patagonian natives for the purpose of taking their land that effectively established Eastern Patagonia by means of the incorporation of those territories into the Republic of Argentina.
Since the geographical borders between Argentina and Chile are not the subject of analysis here, this book will focus on the question of the borders of Patagonia specifically, and other subjects that develop from that, in relation to both countries.
How far did the Patagons reach towards the south and the north? The western and eastern limits were always set by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, while the imposing Andean Mountain Range is responsible for the natural border created by its water courses and its high mountain peaks that are universally recognized as the frontier between Chile and Argentina. It only remains, therefore, to establish where exactly the northern limit of Patagonia should be within the general territory of both modern countries.
With respect to this new question on the delimits of Patagonia, this book has something new to offer by achieving a balance between pre-Hispanic sources and historic research covering the 16th Century to the present; and also by questioning modern delineations to develop a new theory based on solid foundations relating to the natural history of the inhabitants, whose roots date back to 14,200 BC, and which agree with contemporary and traditional assessments provided by historians and geographers in their day. I will say now, therefore, that I believe the configuration of the northern and southern boundaries match the natural outline of the region of Patagonia.
Among the diverse historians that defined the boundaries of Patagonia, one can quote Frederic Lacroix, from his book ‘A History of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands,’ published in 1841:
“Geographic position. General configuration and boundaries. Patagonia stretches from north to south, covering a distance of around 465 leagues, between 35° and 38° and 53° and 54° of southern latitude. Its western side begins at 38° and the eastern side at 42° latitude.”
This clearly states the geographical boundary to the north, on the western side, which corresponds to the Chilean Province of Valdivia, on the Pacific Ocean, and to Carmen de Patagones on the eastern side, in Argentina, at the mouth of the Río Negro that empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
Likewise, one must quote the historian Raúl Rey Balmaceda, from his work Geografía Histórica de la Patagonia (The Historical Geography of Patagonia), published in 1976, in which he concludes the following, in relation to the boundaries for Patagonia:
“If we look at a map of South America, we can note that the region designated with the name Patagonia covers the narrow strip on the Chilean littoral south of Valdivia, the Patagonian Mountains, and the ledges and terraces that descend from them towards the Atlantic Ocean.”
It is also worth quoting the Chilean historian Enrique Campos Menéndez from his book El Alma de la Patagonia (The Soul of Patagonia), published in 2002, which refers to the boundaries of Patagonia and concludes that it is located between:
...39° and 59° of southern latitude in South America, made up by one million square meters of mainland territory and surrounded by two great oceans –the Atlantic and the Pacific– and an archipelago of channels and fjords that make up the bottom cone of the continent.
The contribution made by this last historian is that he situates the northern and southern boundaries of Patagonia with greater precision –between 39° and 59° of southern latitude–that is to say, Valdivia, Neuquén and Cape Horn.
The French professor of glaciology and geographer Luis Lliboutry wrote in his book “Nieves y Glaciares de Chile” published by Ediciones de la Universidad de Chile in 1956 the following: “Northern Patagonia. The region of the lakes. We shall beging with Patagonia at Latitude 39° South, where the principal lakes commence with Lake Alumine.” This statement of the beginning of Northern Patagonia starting at Latitude 39 South and at the lake regions of Chile, clearly validates once more the area of Valdivia and its surrounding lakes at that Latitude where the beginning of Chilean Patagonia takes place.
Defining the borders of the Patagonian region
Historically, the traditional boundaries of Patagonia are well known, but the subject continues to be debatable considering recent archaeological discoveries and the availability of a more in-depth and widely publicized investigation in modern times. Therefore, this author considers it is necessary to attempt a clarification of its traditional past and present boundaries, in order to compare them with most recent discoveries, so as to find a new delineation for Patagonia, without considering the distinct indigenous groups that have so far been classified as sub-groups, according to the parameters and standpoints imposed by Europeans and traditional historians.
Serving extraneous objectives for defining internal borders or defending frontiers or causes that are now past, or to serving religious, cultural, climatic or linguistic interests, leads some to artificially position Patagonia’s borders according to those schemes, and they are therefore not considered here. The objective is to leave a diffuse subject behind and recognize that the location of the indigenous populations that inhabited Patagonia is fundamental to recognizing its true extent. This new perspective opens a wide field of investigation for a contemporary way of seeing things.
It is generally agreed that the main rivers enabled the principal human settlements in Patagonia to emerge and that their extent was defined by those same rivers. Furthermore, human populations, flora and fauna on either side of the Andean Mountains are distinct and have clear natural boundaries that can be asserted both historically and archaeologically; and while nothing is definite with this material, an attempt at progress and an updating of history is made here by incorporating new discoveries. Without such an effort, one simply stagnates in the repetition of what is already known.
The appearance of new archaeological sources obliges us to redefine and analyse the position of Patagonia. The borders of a region as ancient as this, that dates from approximately 14,200 BC, merits a more in-depth analysis, taking into account the new sources that force us to redefine its traditional boundaries.
Current history cannot simply advance with discoveries alone, but rather their analysis must