Y WLADFA: WELSH SETTLER COLONIALISM IN THE ARGENTINE NATIONAL PROJECT

The Welsh settlement of Y Wladfa in Argentine Patagonia occupied a unique position
within the colonial world. Y Wladfa was unique due to its complex and dynamic relationship
with persecution, domination, and colonialism. In a process that this essay will refer to as ‘dualcoloniality’, at differing periods in time, the people of Y Wladfa found themselves the victims of
colonization and acting as colonizers themselves, sometimes simultaneously. This capstone
argues that in studying the case of Y Wladfa and the contradictions and ambiguities present in its
formation, some of the problematic notions inherent in settler colonial studies can be identified
and addressed. In examining the justifications for colonization, narratives of friendship and
moments of compromise, this capstone will demonstrate the need to shift settler colonialist
theory away from binary understandings colonial encounter and subjugation. This study of Y
Wladfa and its unique and ambiguous position, therefore, will inform studies on the legacy of the
colony in current day Argentina and the wider work of settler colonial studies.