The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion

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The Transactions

home > Transactions > Volume 29 - 2023 > SETTLER COLONIALISM AND WELSH PATAGONIA: WHY WE NEED A MORE COMPLEX VIEW

SETTLER COLONIALISM AND WELSH PATAGONIA: WHY WE NEED A MORE COMPLEX VIEW

This article aims to encourage a more complex interpretation of a well-worn story, that of the Welsh colony in Patagonia, Y Wladfa. It applies insights from settler colonial theory and Indigenous scholarship to ask fresh questions, focusing on two dimensions: Welsh relationships to the Indigenous Peoples of Patagonia; and Welsh embedment in the dominant colonial, racial and capitalist dynamics which shaped global relations in the nineteenth century – and continue to impact today. It draws on archival evidence to explore critically Welsh-Indigenous relations, and Welsh relationships with the Argentine government and its settler colonial strategy. The article does not seek to condemn the Welsh settlers for their colonial actions – they simply reflected the conventions of their time – but argues that we can and should reappraise how we tell the story of Y Wladfa today in order to challenge stereotypes and build a more meaningful multicultural Wales tomorrow.

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