The first book to explore the deaths of explorer Jules Crevaux and his crew from an Indigenous perspective.
In 1882, the celebrated French explorer Jules Crevaux and his crew were killed by Indigenous people in the Bolivian Chaco, a fiercely contested region on the border between Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay. The event sparked an international uproar. The scene of the crime was embroiled in clashes among various Indigenous peoples, rubber tappers, and missionaries. Official investigators sent from France and competing newspapers ended up mired in a morass of equivocal, ambiguous, false, and contradictory information.
To make sense of this event, Isabelle Combès is the first researcher to consult the local archives and to include the perspective of Indigenous peoples. In search of who killed Crevaux and why, Combès unearths the power struggles and social imaginaries behind the incident and its aftermath. Readers will find not only an engrossing story in these pages but also an exemplar of historical inquiry that questions the very nature of truth-telling.
In 1882, the celebrated French explorer Jules Crevaux and his crew were killed by Indigenous people in the Bolivian Chaco, a fiercely contested region on the border between Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay. The event sparked an international uproar. The scene of the crime was embroiled in clashes among various Indigenous peoples, rubber tappers, and missionaries. Official investigators sent from France and competing newspapers ended up mired in a morass of equivocal, ambiguous, false, and contradictory information.
To make sense of this event, Isabelle Combès is the first researcher to consult the local archives and to include the perspective of Indigenous peoples. In search of who killed Crevaux and why, Combès unearths the power struggles and social imaginaries behind the incident and its aftermath. Readers will find not only an engrossing story in these pages but also an exemplar of historical inquiry that questions the very nature of truth-telling.
Table of Contents
Preface by Francis Grandhomme
Introduction: The Seventh Circle (in the Chaco), or Murder Considered as a Method by Diego Villar
Chapter 1. Reopening the File
Chapter 2. Chronicle of an Announced Death
Chapter 3. Searching for the Remains of the Crevaux Mission
Chapter 4. Imposture and Amnesia
Chapter 5. Unresolved Questions
Chapter 6. Beyond the Massacre
Chapter 7. Faceless Killers
Epilogue
References
Selected Bibliography
Notes
Introduction: The Seventh Circle (in the Chaco), or Murder Considered as a Method by Diego Villar
Chapter 1. Reopening the File
Chapter 2. Chronicle of an Announced Death
Chapter 3. Searching for the Remains of the Crevaux Mission
Chapter 4. Imposture and Amnesia
Chapter 5. Unresolved Questions
Chapter 6. Beyond the Massacre
Chapter 7. Faceless Killers
Epilogue
References
Selected Bibliography
Notes