Argentina: The Quilmes People
Juan Izurieta went in search of the history behind the name of Argentina’s most popular beer.
Anyone who has been to Argentina and likes beer has had at least a sip of Quilmes. And even those who don’t like beer have surely seen their ubiquitous white and blue ads. Although the market has been diversifying, when I was growing up in the eighties its Cristal brand (a lager) accounted for practically 100% of the beer sold. As of 2009 the Quilmes brewery had a market share of 75%; it remains by far the major player in Argentina’s beer industry.
The brewery took its name from the city where it was founded in 1888 by a German immigrant.
The municipality of Quilmes lies just south of Buenos Aires, but its origins are remote both in time and space. To find them we need to travel 600 miles north and 340 years into the past.
The Quilmes people were a branch of the Diaguitas that inhabited what is now western Tucumán Province. They called themselves Pacciocas (or Paziocas). They were clearly related to other Andean cultures, speaking a related language known as kakán and worshiping the Pachamama or Mother Earth.
They were fiercely independent, a fact that got them in trouble first with the Incas (who gave them the more popular Diaguitas name) and then with the Spanish conquistadors. Although they were briefly annexed to the Inca Empire, having been conquered by the emperor Túpac Yupanqui, they were allowed to continue living more or less as they always had and keep their language and religion. The conquistadors would prove to be much harsher.
They fought the Spanish Crown for a century, in what are known as the Calchaquí Wars.
The first one (1562-1563) resulted in a marginal victory for the Quilmes, as they avoided being conquered and managed to destroy several Spanish cities. The second one was much longer (1630-1643) and resulted in a Quilmes defeat. As a result, they were decimated, lost their lands and many were distributed among the Spanish cities that had contributed to the war effort.
This distribution of people not nominally enslaved was called Encomienda and consisted of natives being given to an individual or town. The natives had to pay tribute, generally in the form of labor, in exchange for being taught Spanish and converted to Catholicism. The Diaguitas, understandably, hated this, and thus the stage was set for the third and final Calchaquí war.
Ironically, this last war was partly due to a Spaniard: Pedro Bohórquez. He was an Andalusian adventurer drawn to the area by the rumor that the Diaguitas knew the location of enormous deposits of precious metals. With the help of the Spanish governor, he had himself recognized as the Inca (emperor) Hualpa. The Diaguitas, who had resisted the Inca Empire, accepted him in hopes that he would lead them in expelling the Spaniards. For his part, the Spanish governor helped him too, convinced that he would, as their leader, help in keeping the Diaguitas under control and even hasten their conversion to Catholicism, goal that had so far eluded the missionaries.
His real intentions are obscure, but he fortified the Calchaquí Valleys and eventually led an uprising that caused the Spanish governor to invade them. Thus began the third and last war.
By now the Spaniards had consolidated their power in the region, and the outcome was clear from the start.
Fearing for his life, the so-called Inca surrendered in exchange for clemency after less than a year of combats. He was taken to Lima and initially pardoned, although he would eventually be executed after being accused of planning another rebellion.
The Diaguitas continued the struggle for another six years before being completely defeated in 1665. And this time the Spaniards took no chances: They razed the cities and forced most of the people into exile.
As a punishment for rebelling and to ensure future peace, the Quilmes folk were forced to undertake a 600-mile walk from their homeland to the then remote area south of Buenos Aires that eventually became the Municipality of Quilmes. During the voyage they were decimated by hunger, the climate and the harsh conditions imposed on them by the Spaniards, and things did not improve upon arrival. As a result they dwindled and were considered extinct by the time the newly independent Argentine government in 1812.
But that was a mistake.
In recent years it was discovered that there are approximately 200 surviving Quilmes living on the border between the provinces of Tucumán and Catamarca. It is currently believed that they are direct descendants of those brave men and women that resisted the Spanish conquest.
So if you are ever in a position to enjoy a cold glass of Quilmes, please take a few seconds to remember this courageous people. And, if the fancy strikes you, let a few drops fall to the ground; that is how you toast the Pachamama.
Juan Izurieta is a scientist and part-time freelance writer. Born and raised in Argentina, he has lived in Europe, the US and Brazil. He has traveled extensively and enjoys reading much more than writing.
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