Abstract

ALMIRON, Victoria Soledad; GARCIA, David  and  LIVA, Yamila. “Qomle’ec, toba, is not just anything…” The teaching of qom language in the educational area of a protestant mission for indigenous peoples from northwestern Chaco (Argentina, 1960-1970). Folia [online]. 2021, n.42, pp.109-134. ISSN 0325-8238.  http://dx.doi.org/10.30972/fhn.0425734.

The rich development in the field of the History of Written Culture in Latin America brings us closer to understanding the historical relationship of indigenous peoples with the literate culture. It has been used as a tool of negotiation and resistance since the time of conquest and colonization. This article is a contribution to the local field discussions, in a topic little explored in Argentina and in recent history. In particular, we are interested in describing teaching processes of reading and writing practices in the Qom language, within the framework of actions carried out during the decades of 1960 and 1970 by Protestants in the northwest of Chaco (Argentina). We perform an historical reconstruction of the institutional context, the literacy policy orientations and the material conditions that made possible for the Qom people of the region to appropriate reading and writing practices in their native language. The main sources used are the analysis of literacy texts, institutional documents and in-depth interviews.

Keywords : Written culture; Native language; Qom; Protestant Mission.