Alfredo Prieto to Speak on Cultural Memory in Patagonia Sept. 29 at Western

Alfredo Prieto from the University of Magallanes will discuss conservation and cultural memory in Chile as part of the WWU Huxley College of the Environment Speaker Series at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29 in Miller Hall 138 on the Western Washington University campus.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

The Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego region and its peoples have experienced dramatic changes in the past five centuries, mostly due to the arrival of European settlers and shifts in climate patterns. Today, nearly all native peoples have disappeared from their original territories.  The southernmost part of the homeland of the Selknam people on Tierra del Fuego was recently designated as a protected area of nearly 300,000 hectares, and named Karukinka (meaning “our land” in the Selknam language).

In his talk titled “The End of the Earth: Biodiversity, Conservation and Cultural Memory in Patagonia,” Prieto will discuss the convergence of conservation and cultural memory in planning for the future of Karukinka. He will also describe the insights offered by archaeology, ethnohistory, and human rights work done in similar human geographies.

Prieto, an archaeologist and researcher at the Universidad de Magallanes in southern Chile, specializes in the cultural ecology and histories of the peoples of Tierra del Fuego, and is dedicated to bringing to life the sophisticated technological and social worlds of groups who were decimated by European settlers and their racist worldviews. He also works closely with conservation and parks groups to ensure protection of land that has been home to nomadic and canoe-going peoples for millennia.

The presentation will include a question-and-answer period. Anyone interested in the topic is encouraged to attend and participate.

The Huxley College Speaker Series, sponsored by Western’s Huxley College of the Environment, is intended to bring together environmentally-minded members of the WWU and Bellingham communities. Speakers address topics of contemporary environmental concern in the region and the world.

WWU’s Huxley College of the Environment is one of the oldest environmental colleges in the nation and a recognized leader in producing the next generation of environmental professionals and stewards. Huxley’s distinctive, interdisciplinary curriculum reflects a broad view of the physical, biological, social, and cultural world, and has earned international recognition for quality.

For more information, please contact WWU’s Huxley College of the Environment at (360) 650-2554.