Los charrúas en la memoria nacional de Uruguay

Resumen

The Charrúas were an indigenous
group who lived in the territories of the former
Banda Oriental (present Uruguay, the provinces
of Entre Ríos, Santa Fe and Corrientes in
Argentina, and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil).
Throughout the 18th century occurred
campaigns of “civilization” of the governors of
Buenos Aires against indigenous, resulting
hundreds of deaths. In the first half of the 19th
century the indigenous people, after they
fought in the armies for independence of
Uruguay, were persecuted and sought to
exterminate systematically the Charrúas. This
fact is known as “the massacre of Salsipuedes”
(1831). Nowadays several organizations have
been created to rebuild, investigate and clarify
the facts, and assist all kinds of Charruan
cultural survival. This paper attempts to present
the various ways in which the Charrúas survive
in the national memory of Uruguayan society at
present. At the same time, the role of the
Charrúas in the formation of the national
identity of Uruguay is also examined.