The "golondrina travelers": A transnational ethnography of Chilota migration in the Fuego-Patagonia territories of Chile and Argentina

Abstract

This article presents ethnographic aspects of the transnational migration of chilotas communities in the Fuego- Patagonia territories between 1880- 1980. It emphasizes the representation of music, gastronomy and the popular religiosity of Chiloé as a category of analysis for understanding the experiences of migration related to the incorporation of traditions, circulation of goods, formation of communities, cultural centers, places of leisure and sports leagues, all of which are elements that express chilotas identities in places of migrant residence. The affective and identity bonds represented beyond borders correspond to a sequence of emotions, interactions and shifting relationships between places of origin and destination, in such a way that the re-creation of spaces enabled the imaginary construction of sceneries related to traditions that manifest the notion of the home and the symbolic conservation of the "homeland". This research used Multisite Ethnography as a methodological strategy to develop different stages of field work between November 2015 and September 2018. It took as its starting point the concept of 'transnational social fields' to reflect migrations and circulation of cultural meanings in the mentioned territories. The conclusions concern different ways of conceiving the territory as a dynamic space of cultural meanings visualized as part of the historical memory in the far south. Thus, Fuego-Patagonia can be understood as a territory forged in movement and as a multi-nodal geographical space of social relations and cultural continuities.