The Franciscan Mission Laishí: The project by engineer Joseph Elijah Niklison (1910-1920)

Abstract

The Mission of Laishí was implemented in the Argentine Chaco in 1900, thanks to the authorization of the Ministry of the Interior and on the basis of the notes sent by the Prefect of Misiones Fray Pedro Iturralde to the Argentine national state and to the government of the National Territory of Formosa. Franciscan Missionaries of the Diocese of Santa Fe implemented the state project of “nationalizing” the natives who inhabited the space of Formosa. The aim of the monks was to ensure the survival of the Pilagá and Toba indigenous people. The missionary Fray Buenaventura Giuliani, who became the Prefect of Misiones, was responsible for the Mission of Laishí from 1908 to 1928. During World War I (1914-1919), he welcomed the engineer José Elías Niklison, member of the National Labour Department, whose task was to inspect the Chaco region and regulate the working conditions of indigenous people. This article analyzes the description of the Toba indigenous people and the Franciscan missionaries of the Mission of Laishí made by inspector Niklison, who demonstrated his intention to protect both the Guaycurú indigenous people and the Franciscan Order.

Key words: mission among indigenous people, Laishí, Formosa, Argentina, Niklison, Fray Buenaventura Giuliani, Toba.