Cacique’s José Gregorio Yancamil reburial. Heritage, politics and memory of rock in the argentine pampas

In this paper we discuss the idea of heritage, the politics of indigenous recognition and the consequences of constructing monuments as memorials. As a frame of theoretical reference, we use the proposals developed by the Latin-American decolonial movement. We present, as a case of study, the ceremony of reburial of the cacique Rankülche José Gregorio Yancamil, carried out in 2006 at the city of Victorica, La Pampa province, Argentina. Th roughout the discussion it is argued that the predominant idea of heritage, commonly used in the politics of indigenous recognition, could be associated with the Eurocentric ways of constructing knowledge and also as part of the eff ects of the concept of coloniality of power. The same sense of coloniality it is attributed to archaeology as a modern scientifi c enterprise.

Key words: Heritage, Coloniality of power, Decolonial turn, Yancamil, Monument.