A century after the Napalpí massacre, Indigenous activists are driving reparations

“I don’t know why they killed so many children and grown-ups. There was so much suffering.” With these words, Rosa Grilo told Indigenous Qom researcher Juan Chico about the Napalpí Massacre, which happened on July 19, 1924. At the time of her testimony in 2018, Rosa was over 100 years old. She survived — but her father was murdered. The wholesale slaughter of primarily Qom and Moqoit Indigenous communities took place in Colonia Aborigen, a hamlet in the present-day province of Chaco. Around 500 people were killed, including women, children, and older adults. It was the largest massacre of Indigenous peoples in 20th-century Argentina — but was largely denied by state and media alike for decades. That day, an airplane flew overhead, dropping candy to attract the villagers. Then, the police started shooting. The violence continued for days, with officers chasing and killing the escaping survivors. Many bodies were burned and buried in mass graves. The atrocity happened at a time when Indigenous communities were protesting the violence and exploitation they endured in cotton production and harvesting. Their labor conditions — and the massacre — must be understood in the context of the State Reduction for Indigenous People of Napalpí,...