Tourisme, patrimonialisation et politique

The « National feast of the Pachamama » which takes place at Amaicha in the north-west Argentina is an example of celebration of heritage with tourist attraction while its stakes are highly political. We show the staging of culture inserted into a tourist development plan has contributed to transform a belief – that of Pachamama (Mother Earth) shared by the Andean world – into a “cultural heritage” singular to this village. This enhancement of a cultural specificity by resorting to tourism has become an important source of income for the village by attracting visitors looking for cultural diversity. This feast, turned into a real identity symbol also took on (in the early to 2000’s), a political dimension when this development plan was announced. It would be the person in charge of “tradition” conferred by the organization of the festivities in honour of Mother Earth that would be invested with authority on the local scene but equally and fundamentally for such national institutions as INAI (Instituto National de los Asuntos Indigenas) or more broadly for International Organizations acting of suppliers of funds for development plans where native culture figures prominently