| Summary: | This article analyzes the relationship between the Mapuche wars and the war of conquest of Patagonia by the Argentine Army, the so-called “Campaña del Desierto”. Although the campaign is a central topic in Argentine history in general and Argentine indigenous history in particular, it has been primarily been the subject of military celebration or anti-colonial denunciations. Little attention has been paid to the infrapolitics of war as a “total social fact.”Focusing on the infamous and cruel figure of the cacique Pichi Millaman during the occupation of Neuquén, and his historical conflicts with neighboring caciques, this article will situate the war of conquest within the longer context of the Mapuche wars, to better understand the attitudes and strategies adopted by the caciques of Neuquén and commanders of the Argentine military. It is particularly interested in how these practices of politics and war, as well as the prior history of internal conflicts, enable us to understand the course of military struggles involved in the Campaña del Desierto and its aftermath, from military battles themselves to the subsequent development of Mapuche politics. The article advances along two avenues. First, we add historical depth to the events surrounding Pichi Millaman, placing them within a chain of revenge dating back to the eighteenth century and the course of indigenous-criollo politics on the southern frontier of Mendoza. Second, we delve into the politics of war, alliance and betrayal, paying attention to the tactics of terror and the prestige of cruelty in indigenous-criollo conflicts, the central role in both of the knowledges andeveryday geopolitical practices of trackers, and the profaning/preservation of chenques and human remains.
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