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An Estancia in Patagonia
Nora Mackinnon's account of her life spent in Patagonia is a love story - a tale of joy and the pain of life lived in a country which is at times harsh and inhospitable, at others abundant and fruitful, but always compellingly beautiful. This humorous and intelligent account of her 'hands on' experience in one of the remotest parts of the globe is refreshingly authoritative and lucid.
158 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1997
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October 22, 2023
This is a very unusual book which I picked up at the Leleque museum, Esquel, northern Patagonia, Argentina while I was visiting the museum on the Benetton ranch or 'estancia' there. (The Italian company now own the estate for the wool they need for their knitwear)
Written by an Anglo-Argentine woman in the early 1990s, the book is a memoir of her life living and working on the ranch, from 1950s to 1980s, with her husband and growing family, long before Benetton acquired it.
Nora's husband, Charlie Mackinnon was the estate manager and worked for the Argentine Southern Land Company. And the lack of questioning of the Company, its existence, what Nora and co were doing there, who originally lived there and what had become of the original inhabitants, is what makes the whole book so dated and, to me, astounding in one way, yet totally logical, within the confines of Nora's world view and experience, in another!
The original peoples of this part of Patagonia are mentioned once or twice in passing, in some vague reference to their old hunter-gatherer ways, but there is not even a tiny hint of awareness that the only reason Nora is there, is because the Teruelche are not, as they were hunted and killed by early settlers, forcibly displaced or otherwise removed, in order to make way for sheep.
Likewise, the entire period of the savage dictatorship of 1976 to 1982 is dismissed in a few paragraphs, regarding how Nora, regrets not having understood more about the 'depths of wickedness ' to which the Military Dictatorship had sunk. But, to be fair to her, Nora does then relate some of the atrocities she heard about after it was all over.
I suppose it is conceivable that someone of British origin, working for a British company in the middle of nowhere could have been oblivious as to what had happened to the indigenous people in the 19th century, but what was happening in the 70s was not restricted to the big cities by any means; Nora does refer to the victims of the terror as 'communists' at one time so maybe her understanding was selective.
However, the book does have interest, in the detailed and effective depictions of rural life among these largely British estate managers and their families in the mid 20th century, out there in Patagonia. In some ways, it could just as well have taken place 50 years earlier, and Nora does acknowledge this. Indeed, she has a very good eye for domestic detail, and it is a fascinating portrait of how she lived and managed with few mod cons, fewer roads, and very limited communication.
The book describes the landscape, nature and the changing seasons with some passion, and does depict the local people Nora worked alongside with respect and affection.
A strange book, and one I would not have picked up if I hadn't been travelling in Argentina and Chile, but for me it was well worth reading as it gives a fascinating insight into the way of life and views of the ranch managing class of the Argentine Southern Land Company.
Written by an Anglo-Argentine woman in the early 1990s, the book is a memoir of her life living and working on the ranch, from 1950s to 1980s, with her husband and growing family, long before Benetton acquired it.
Nora's husband, Charlie Mackinnon was the estate manager and worked for the Argentine Southern Land Company. And the lack of questioning of the Company, its existence, what Nora and co were doing there, who originally lived there and what had become of the original inhabitants, is what makes the whole book so dated and, to me, astounding in one way, yet totally logical, within the confines of Nora's world view and experience, in another!
The original peoples of this part of Patagonia are mentioned once or twice in passing, in some vague reference to their old hunter-gatherer ways, but there is not even a tiny hint of awareness that the only reason Nora is there, is because the Teruelche are not, as they were hunted and killed by early settlers, forcibly displaced or otherwise removed, in order to make way for sheep.
Likewise, the entire period of the savage dictatorship of 1976 to 1982 is dismissed in a few paragraphs, regarding how Nora, regrets not having understood more about the 'depths of wickedness ' to which the Military Dictatorship had sunk. But, to be fair to her, Nora does then relate some of the atrocities she heard about after it was all over.
I suppose it is conceivable that someone of British origin, working for a British company in the middle of nowhere could have been oblivious as to what had happened to the indigenous people in the 19th century, but what was happening in the 70s was not restricted to the big cities by any means; Nora does refer to the victims of the terror as 'communists' at one time so maybe her understanding was selective.
However, the book does have interest, in the detailed and effective depictions of rural life among these largely British estate managers and their families in the mid 20th century, out there in Patagonia. In some ways, it could just as well have taken place 50 years earlier, and Nora does acknowledge this. Indeed, she has a very good eye for domestic detail, and it is a fascinating portrait of how she lived and managed with few mod cons, fewer roads, and very limited communication.
The book describes the landscape, nature and the changing seasons with some passion, and does depict the local people Nora worked alongside with respect and affection.
A strange book, and one I would not have picked up if I hadn't been travelling in Argentina and Chile, but for me it was well worth reading as it gives a fascinating insight into the way of life and views of the ranch managing class of the Argentine Southern Land Company.
Displaying 1 of 1 review