“Lighting up in distant regions the sacred fire of the Nation” : the Centenary celebrations (1910) and the Welsh community in Patagonia

Abstract

Given the pride of place accorded to Welsh descendants in the recent Bicentennial of the May Revolution in Chubut, it may be assumed that Welsh settlers would have received similar recognition when the Centenary was marked in 1910. However, Welsh Patagonians were then regarded very differently by the central authorities, who used the 1910 festivities as part of a campaign to “Argentinise” Chubut populations. Though a crucial snapshot of the process of inclusion of what was perceived as a reticent ethnic group into the nation’s “imagined community”, the marking of the Argentine Centenary in Chubut remains mostly unexplored. Based on the view that key aspects of social memory are conveyed and sustained by ritual performance and commemoration, this article discusses how the invented tradition of the Fiestas Mayas was reenacted in the Centenario in Welsh-populated areas in Chubut according to reports by contemporary sources.