BROOKS, Walter A.

& Geraldine LUBLIN, 'The Eisteddfod of Chubut, or how the reinvention of a tradition has contributed to the preservation of a language and culture', Beyond Philology, 4 (2007), 245-59.

The Eisteddfod of Chubut, or how the reinvention of a tradition has contributed to the preservation of a language and culture

Introduction Much has been said about the Welsh settlement in the Patagonian region since its foundation 140 years ago, but philologists may have heard about it because of the miracle that has allowed the Welsh language to survive in the very end of the world. The fact that two areas in the Patagonian region of the Argentine Republic should remain the only place outside Wales where Welsh is still spoken and has a certain degree of currency may sound implausible considering that Welsh is a minority language in its homeland. What at the beginning was a quest for a better life and a struggle to preserve a specific cultural integrity has inevitably become a highly romanticised legend. It is surprising indeed that many of the cultural traits carried by the first Welsh migrants to Patagonia have persisted even when the descendants are born and immersed in a predominantly Latin-American society. Furthermore, some typically Welsh traditions such as the Eisteddfod festival and choir singinghave been transplanted and adopted into the local social practices and have become part and parcel of the identity of the community. From an objective perspective, the Welsh pioneering in Patagonia must be seen against the backdrop of a century of emigration from Europe to different parts of the world. Nevertheless, the inherent traits of the Patagonian experience make it unique within the context of the larger Welsh migration. Jones (1997, 298) notes that, even when the quest for higher standards of living and the possibility of becoming landowners were part of the motives that spurred the Welsh to move to Patagonia, strong cultural, religious, linguistic and identity factors played a prominent and even fundamental role in their decision to emigrate and stay in spite of the unexpected hardships they had to endure. These characteristics conferred the Patagonian Movement a distinctive ethos. When in 1865 the first settlers landed in what would become the town of Puerto Madryn, in the province of Chubut, Argentina was not a full-fledged nation state but rather a group of provinces that had achieved only recently a certain degree of unity. What is now the Patagonian region was not officially part of the country 1

as we know it today. In this sense, the Welsh proposal for establishing a settlement 300 miles to the south of Carmen de Patagones the furthermost, fragile outpost of Argentinean sovereignty at the time was perceived by some Argentinean officials as a possibility to lay future claims over the whole of the region. At the same time, the Welsh regarded the extreme isolation of their desired settlement as synonymous with being able to develop in freedom, far from the influence of other communities (Williams 1991, 49). In spite of the initial difficulties the Welsh underwent, the settlement eventually prospered in many regards. Once they surmounted the problems caused by their lack of knowledge of the terrain and managed to reap substantive crops, the Welsh farmers began selling their produce to Buenos Aires as well as exporting it. The quality of their wheat even earned them gold medals in both the Paris and Chicago agricultural shows by the end of the nineteenth century. They also built a system of canals that allowed them to tap into the available resources provided by the Chubut River, since the rainfall in Patagonia proved too scarce to water their crops. With the aim of shipping their produce, the pioneers built a railway across the plains linking the Chubut Valley and the harbour at Puerto Madryn, where it was easier for vessels to anchor rather than at the treacherous mouth of the Chubut River. The farmers also founded a cooperative society in the early 1880s the Cooperative Society of Chubut that became the mainstay of the settlements economy and laid the basis for Patagonias economic development (Williams 1978, 620). By the end of the 19 th century the settlement was one of the most successful in Argentina as well as the most mechanised rural community in the country, and one of the most productive in the whole of South America (Williams 1991, 133). At the turn of the 20th century, the Welsh community in Patagonia was undoubtedly a very powerful group. This economic bonanza went hand in hand with a flourishing of culture. The Welsh language developed to an extent previously unknown. While muffled at the time in the mother country, it regained its formal register in Patagonia, becoming the language of education, law, business, religion, and social events. It was also used in government, and the local Council proceedings were written in Welsh and only eventually in both Welsh and Spanish. The language was thus free to develop and expand. For instance, a new, simpler system of counting was implemented to facilitate the childrens learning of mathematics (Jones 1997, 312). Even the Eisteddfod the traditional Welsh festival was successfully transplanted to the new home across the Atlantic.

The Eisteddfod The Eisteddfod is arguably the most important Welsh festival devoted to poetry, literature and music. Although minor Eisteddfodau are held at different times of the year all around the country, the climax of the year is the main National Eisteddfod celebrated annually in north and south Wales alternatively. During this 2

week-long event, participants compete in different categories following an established programme selected in advance, and these activities take place in the main pavilion. However, this pinnacle of the Welshspeaking world represents much more than the competitions that provide its structure. Once a year, Welsh native speakers and learners get a chance to immerse themselves in a unique atmosphere, while various institutions, businesses, government and non-governmental organisations set up their stalls around the main pavilion and establish a more direct link with the thousands of visitors that make the Eisteddfod the biggest wandering festival in Europe. The origin of the National Eisteddfod of Wales would go back to the year 1176, when a contest was held in Aberteifi Castle under the auspices of Lord Rhys.1 Bards and musicians from every corner of the country were invited to participate, and the winner was to obtain a chair and a place at the Lords table. Although the Lords table is now gone, the tradition of presenting the victorious bard with a chair has remained until the present. Another traditional aspect of the Eisteddfod is its ceremonies, inextricably linked to the Gorsedd y Beirdd (Throne of Bards in the English translation). The National Eisteddfod website explains that this institution, founded in 1792 in London, was the brainchild of Iolo Morgannwg, an eccentric scholar whose aim was to highlight the connection between the Welsh and the culture and heritage of the Celts. The complex and pompous set of ceremonies that he therefore devised have come to be used strategically in the opening of the Eisteddfod and in the honouring of the poets. Ever since the foundation of the National Eisteddfod in 18601861, the Crowning, the Prose Medal and the Chairing ceremonies presided by the Gorsedd have become a regular feature of the flagship festival. It is a fact that the first Welsh settlers who emigrated to Patagonia were well aware of the Eisteddfod tradition and of the Gorsedd ceremonies, so it is not surprising that they should have decided to celebrate an Eisteddfod at a very early stage in the settlement history. Although local historians do not agree on a definite date, the first Eisteddfod in Chubut would have taken place some time between 1865 and 1875. 2 In any case, the celebration of the festival at such an early stage is proof of the place of honour it holds as part of the Welsh identity. It was thus that the Eisteddfod of Chubut developped successfully up to the first decades of the 20th century. The cultural golden age was a consequence of other factors that allowed for Welsh traditions to be recreated in a distant and different environment from the mother country. Bourhis description that the more

1 2

According to the official National Eisteddfod website (http://www.eisteddfod.org.uk). The very official website of the Patagonian Eisteddfod (www.eisteddfod.org.ar) seems to be undecided on whether the first festival was celebrated in 1865 (as asserted in the homepage) or in 1875 (as claimed in the time line page).

status a linguistic community is ascribed to have, the more vitality it could be said to possess as a collectivity (Bourhis 2001, 109) accurately depicts the reality of the Welsh-Patagonian community. As discussed previously, they were in control of the local government and economy. Moreover, although immigrants of different ethnic backgrounds settled in some of the up to then Welsh-dominated areas, the community managed to remain homogeneous and maintain an extremely low rate of intermarriage. Consequently, for an ethnic group with such a high prestige, preserving the Welsh language and traditions was the natural thing to do. Times of change Had it not been for the Argentinean governments intervention to make sure that the settlement would not become an alien spot within the expanding republic, the dream of a new Wales held by the leaders of the immigration movement might have been a reality. However, the 20th century brought a gradual set of changes that would undermine the strength of the Welsh community, forcing an adaptation to a changing reality that stressed national Argentinean values and unity above any manifestation of ethnic particularities. Confronted with a massive flow of immigrants, the national government decided to launch a campaign to Argentinise the incoming hordes a process applied in a number of countries in their nation-building stage. For one, Welsh was forbidden in the classroom and Spanish became the language of education as early as the first decade of the 20th century. To make matters worse, since organised immigration from Wales came to an end in 1911 (when the last group of colonisers were brought aboard the steamer Orita), only a decreasing number of individuals from Wales would settle sporadically in Chubut. The outbreak of the First World War would mark yet another breach in the contact between Chubut and Wales. The Welsh community would lose its last two symbols of economic power after the Cooperative Society went bankrupt in the early thirties, allegedly due to mismanagement as well as to the world crisis triggered by the fall of Wall Street. The second blow would come soon after, in the mid-forties, when shareholders of the Irrigation Company were forced to sell the irrigation canals to the national government. Eventually, as the country embarked on a process of industrialisation, the agricultural sector from which the Welsh farmers derived their wealth suffered neglect. This policy generated an exodus to the cities and as a result it weakened the cohesion that the Welsh community had maintained in rural areas. On the social front, the mid-forties brought about a major setback when it was decreed that religion more precisely, the Catholic religion should become a subject to be studied in all primary schools. To make matters worse, although the Welsh had been influential at the local and national levels through their contacts with the powerful British community in Buenos Aires, by the mid-forties the new post Second World War 4

reality triggered nationalistic tendencies under the government of President Juan Domingo Pern, who was intent on breaking the ties with Britain. Nationalism would therefore be on the rise again, and anything British would be considered an enemy of the Argentinean nation. It was thus only natural that the Welsh-Patagonian cultural activities should suffer as a result of such a discouraging political and socio-economic context. The loss of the high prestige formerly associated with Welsh culture and traditions brought about a decline of enthusiasm in general. This negative attitude towards all things Welsh was in turn perceived by the younger generations, some of whom would prefer to adhere to the broader Argentinean model rather than try to repossess or even maintain their links to the culture of ancient Gwalia. As connections with the mother country grew sparse, the Welsh legacy of the 19 th century pioneers was left aside by many families as a however quaint and picturesque element of the past. In view of the unfavourable circumstances, the tight social cohesion of bygone days weakened, and a resulting decrease in the number of participants in all the range of Welsh cultural events including of course the Eisteddfod of Chubut was to be expected. In his masterwork Y Wladfa, published in 1962, R. Bryn Williams describes the waning of the literary tradition in the Patagonian settlement and ascribes it to the fact that the Welsh community had always been small and therefore unable to produce a new wave of poets after the old generation had passed away. As a consequence, participation in the Eisteddfodau declined, and not many festivals were held during the 1940s and 1950s. It is no wonder that, three years before the Centenary of the landing of the Welsh pioneers, R. Bryn Williams should have described contemporary Patagonian Welsh descendants as proud of their Argentinean affiliation. Although a sense of Welshness remained alive, the Welsh community approached the centenary celebrations being a pale reflection of what it had been as far as its original language and culture were concerned. Even though many traits had been preserved, especially in some of the rural areas where the Welsh element still predominated, there could not be any doubt that these Welsh-Patagonians had to a great extent turned their back on their heritage, under the influence of a combination of political and socioeconomic factors that promoted full allegiance to the new country and a rejection of the old values.

Up from the ashes In spite of the adverse environment, the centenary celebrations marked an extremely important turning point in the fate of the Welsh descendants in Argentina. A special commission was summoned to organise the celebrations, while a parallel committee started working in Wales with a similar purpose. Their joint aim was to plan and coordinate activities in order to mark the feat performed 100 years earlier by the intrepid settlers. All through the year a series of events were held to commemorate the landing of the first Welsh 5

colonists; concerts, sports competitions, pages of articles in the local newspapers, official ceremonies, all added to the sense of importance that the occasion entailed at the local, national and international level. Moreover, the national authorities officially hailed the 19th century Welsh settlement as the first step towards the foundation of the province of Chubut and the incorporation of Patagonia to the Argentine Republic. Officially decreed by a provincial law as 'the year of the Centenary', 1965 was warmly welcomed by the locals and enthusiastically heralded in the newspapers that now recognised the contribution of the first Welsh settlers as the strongest pillar on which rested the province of Chubut (Jornada, 3/1/65). Past moments of tension between the Welsh settlers and the Argentine authorities were thus downplayed and carefully eliminated from the official discourse. Even the then President of Argentina went down to Puerto Madryn on the 28th of July (Gwyl y Glaniad, the day of the original landing) to celebrate the occasion and uncover a monument in memory of the Welsh pioneers. As a sign of recognition, the Chubut government also bestowed gold medals upon all the descendants of the first Welsh settlers that had arrived aboard the Mimosa (the first ship) in 1865.

Furthermore, in January 1965 an exchange programme was announced that would go from strength to strength ever since. The British Council granted two scholarships for Patagonians to pursue postgraduate studies in Wales while the Centenary Commission in Wales conferred scholarships to four descendants of Welsh immigrants to go to Wales in order to participate in the Centenary celebrations and travel the land of their forefathers. They would later be in charge of sharing their experience with their fellow Patagonians at home so as to strengthen the cultural links between the two countries. Also in 1965, the arrival of the so called 'Welsh Pilgrims' in Argentina marked the essential renewal of the links between Patagonia and Wales when about eighty Welsh visitors flew over to visit their distant cousins and tour the main places were the pioneers descendants lived. The pilgrims marvelled at the fact that a piece of Wales was alive in a distant corner across the Atlantic; the Patagonians realised that Wales was a modern country and that the traditions that had been almost forsaken were still alive across the sea.

However, perhaps one of the most important aspects in the celebrations programme was that the main Eisteddfod was held once again in October 1965, after 15 years of inactivity and silence. Although some Youth Eisteddfodau had been held during those years, the gap left by the absence of the most important annual festival depicted the state of affairs in the Welsh Patagonian community.

This new version of the traditional cultural pinnacle was different from its previous counterparts in that Spanish was accepted as one of the official languages of the festival. Moreover, the year 1966 saw the 6

introduction of the awarding of the Crown to the best poem in the Spanish language, which was to run parallel to the competition for the (Welsh language) Bardic Chair. The opening up of the Eisteddfod to the Spanish language was designed to cater for the younger generations that, although not always fluent in the language of their forefathers, showed a renewed interest in rekindling the cultural tradition brought by the pioneers.

The 1965 celebrations would have acted as a social catalyst to provoke the changes that, although gradual, represented a turn from the downward spiral into which Welsh culture had entered in Patagonia. In the following years, with the advent of better means of communication, the lack of contact that had been the norm between Patagonia and Wales for many years finally gave way to an increasing exchange. The eighties saw the first teachers from Wales venture to Patagonia to teach the language on a voluntary basis, becoming the antecedent of the official scheme founded by the National Assembly of Wales by which teachers are sent every year to teach the language and culture of Wales to a growing number of Patagonians who are interested in learning more about their own roots or, in the case of those who have no connection whatsoever with Wales, learn about the history and traditions of a community that played a decisive role in the development of Patagonia.

2001: the Gorsedd in Patagonia

If 1965 was a year of the utmost importance for the descendants of the Welsh in Patagonia, 2001 was another milestone that showed the extent to which the community had kept the flame burning. The revival in the interest in Welsh tradition rekindled as early as 1965 inspired the organizers of the local Eisteddfod to contact the Gorsedd of Bards in Britain pertaining the possibility that the traditional institution could be reestablished in Patagonia. Although there had been a Gorsedd in Chubut which had been in charge of performing the rituals of the Eisteddfod in the early years, the general decay undergone by the Welsh community had brought it to an end. Somehow echoing the trip made by the pilgrims in 1965, most of the numerous members of the Gorsedd of Wales made their way to Patagonia in 2001, in order to officially reestablish the Patagonian Gorsedd. Their visit was chronicled by the local media in detail, and the presence of such a large contingent of foreigners aroused considerable enthusiasm among the inhabitants of the Chubut Valley. Locals were especially bemused after watching the members of the Gorsedd preside the opening of the Eisteddfod fully clad in their long robes and carrying the usual gear including an enormous swordup to the conspicuous circle of stones that had been purposefully erected (following the custom in Wales of forming these circles wherever the Eisteddfod takes place).

By reintroducing a mythical and prestigious institution such as the Gorsedd, the organisers of the Eisteddfod of Chubut hoped to provide additional legitimacy to a festival where tradition is paramount. Since cultural activities have been experiencing an upward trend in the Patagonian context for several years, it could be claimed that their aim has been fulfilled. The increasing contacts between Wales and Patagonia and the current vitality enjoyed by the Welsh language and culture may surely be due, at least partially, to the endevours of the groups that actively supported the revival of these Welsh traditional practices.

The Reinvention of a Tradition It is our contention that the Eisteddfod of Chubut as reborn in 1965 is an invented tradition in the sense explained by Hobsbawm as a set of practices, normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with [] a suitable historic past (1983, 1). The reinvention and formal institution of the Patagonian Eisteddfod took place as a response to what some perceived as a crisis within their local community. The group behind the organization of the festivities considered it was necessary to re-establish the Eisteddfod as an essential part of the local identity. Those who had maintained a high degree of Welshness in their lives despite the extensive Argentinisation campaign carried out by the national authorities decided to do something about a status quo with which they were not pleased. The ritualisation entailed by an annual festival that includes the proud display of symbols such as flags, impressive robes and a massive ceremonial sword, a hand-carved throne and a silver crown, confer a particular aura of prestige to the Welsh tradition. This legacy is further glorified by the various ceremonies and specific pomp and protocol marking the different stages of the occasion, further reinforced by the reestablishment of the Patagonian Gorsedd in 2001. The yearly observance of the liturgy would therefore involve a rite of commemoration that would renew the identity vows every year as well as validate the Welsh heritage within the community. At the same time, this annual celebration provides a powerful link with a glorious mythical past, thus resembling other invented traditions in their use of history as a legitimator of action and cement of group cohesion (Hobsbawm 1983, 12). If the action of the Argentinean authorities had succeeded in partially disassociating the members of the Welsh-Patagonian community, this reference to their common grand origins would unite the descendants of the 19th century pioneers in an attempt to rediscover a patrimony of which they could be proud. Furthermore, it is indeed suggestive that, while the official website of the National Eisteddfod of Wales traces the origins of the festival to last quarter of the 12 th century, that of the 8

Eisteddfod of Chubut links the festival back to pre-Christian time druids and refers to a celebration dating of 517 AD, thereby enhancing its historical roots and strengthening its validity.3 Nevertheless, a significant aspect of the reinvention of traditions seems to be the adaptation of old uses to new circumstances, as well as the use of ancient materials to construct invented traditions of a novel type for quite novel purposes (Hobsbawm 1983, 5-6). This is how the inclusion of Spanish as one of the official languages of the festival as from 1965 was, although highly controversial at the beginning, readily accepted in subsequent years as an inherent part of the venerable cultural event. Furthermore, the awarding of the Crown to the best poem in the Spanish language instead of a poem in Welsh as is the case in the National Eisteddfod of Waleswas grafted onto the Patagonian version of the festival, and this did not seem to pose any threat to the ancient and traditional nature of the occasion. Although the structure of the festivity as transplanted to Patagonia by the early settlers had been preserved, novel elements were incorporated into the reinvented tradition, and this was not perceived as conflictive. It is worth noting that, when the Patagonian Gorsedd was reestablished in 2001, Meirion Evans explained in his capacity as Archdruid of the Welsh Gorsedd that from the perspective of both the Patagonians and the Welsh, the importance of the Gorsedd resides in that it is a symbol of the Welsh language.4 In the context of the province of Chubut, however, the bilingual Eisteddfod would be more an expression of the Welsh heritage through the medium of Welsh and Spanish, rather than a cultural event whose main highlight is the ancient Celtic language. The process of adaptation of an ancient tradition so as to adjust to the novel Patagonian context also affected the honourable institution of the Gorsedd of Bards. It is not surprising that some of the locals should mistrust the whole fancy ceremony, as well as the pompous robes and furnishings. Moreover, for those who perceived the legacy of the pioneers as deeply rooted in Christian values, the quasi-pagan ritual of the Gorsedd should remain a senseless mystery. As a result, some changes were introduced in order to adapt the ceremony to the Patagonian context and render the ceremony less alien. To begin with, the procession of the local bards towards the Meinir Orsedd is led by a horse-riding gaucho. Furthermore, as explained by the Archdruid of the Patagonian Gorsedd Clydwyn Jones, whereas the members of the Welsh Gorsedd don blue, white and green costumes according to their status, there are no hierarchies in the Patagonian Gorsedd, whose members wear a blue poncho without any further ado.5 Nevertheless, despite the initial lack of understanding, the reestablishment of the Gorsedd was to prove a success in the long run.

3 4

See http://www.eisteddfod.org.ar/historia-esp.htm. Interview with Meirion Evans published in Sitio al Margen (http://www.almargen.com.ar/), December 2001. 5 Interview with Clydwyn Jones published in Sitio al Margen (http://www.almargen.com.ar/), December 2001.

Conclusion The fact that we consider the reestablishment of the Eisteddfod and the Gorsedd in Patagonia as a reinvention of a tradition does not however imply that this fact should render it less valuable. It could be argued that the positive results that have spurred the development of the Eisteddfod of Chubut into the 21 st century are hitherto more momentous than the genuineness of its reestablishment in 1965 or the uncertainty of its origins in the first place.6 Although it is true that the revival of the festival was not spontaneous but rather the result of the concerted action of a minority, it is now enjoyed by growing audiences composed of both Welsh and non-Welsh descendants. The same could be said of the Welsh reinvention of many of their purported national traditions including the Eisteddfod and the Gorsedd as described by Prys Morgan (1983), which have proved indeed very effective in reversing the adverse circumstances surrounding the Welsh language and culture in the 18th century. Although the topic undoubtedly deserves a more extended and comprehensive analysis than the brief exploration we can afford to undertake for the purpose of this article, it would not be completely erroneous to suggest that the tradition of the Eisteddfod would be one of the pillars of the preservation of the Welsh language and culture in Patagonia. Even though the religious aspect played an essential role within the community, the annual celebration of the Welsh cultural heritage spearheaded by the Eisteddfod would have been a rite of commemoration that allowed Welsh descendants to rejuvenate and strengthen their bonds with their original background from a fresh perspective. On top of that, the yearly festival has provided nonWelsh descendants with the opportunity to sample and enjoy this shared cultural tradition. As we have explained before, by 1965 both the Welsh language and culture had receded and given way to the new set of Argentinean values after the foundations that upheld the prestige of the community crumbled under the pressure of economic failure, demographic changes and the loss of direct contact with the mother country. However, the acculturation process of some of the Argentine-born descendants did not completely eradicate their awareness of a Welsh background. That is why, when the wind changed, the embers rekindled. A hundred years after the landing of the first Welsh settlers, the descendants of those pioneers and Argentinean society as a whole looked back and reflected on their short but eventful history and on their significant legacy. On the local level, the revival of the revamped Patagonian Eisteddfod and all the 1965 celebrations made Welsh-Patagonians realise how precious their heritage was. Irma Hughes de Jones the main woman of letters of Welsh extraction in Patagonia describes the excitement caused by the revival of the festival: For many people, that was to be their first Eisteddfod and so they were keenly looking forward
6

For a detailed explanation of the origins of the Eisteddfod, see Morgan, Prys (1983) in Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence. The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 43-100.

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to having the chance to experience what it was like! And the middle-aged and the elders were happy to repossess something very dear to their hearts, that they feared they had lost forever. Nobody would certainly had dreamt of its flourishing in the coming years (Hughes de Jones 1993, 133). The Welsh pioneers that settled in Patagonia during the second half of the 19 th century were imbued with ideals that went beyond material well-being. The need to preserve a distinctive heritage was one of the pillars of the migration, and it is indeed striking that the Welsh legacy has managed to survive at all in spite of the actions to diminish its scope of influence and, not least, the passing of time. We resort again to the words of Irma Hughes de Jones when she asserts that the Centenary celebrations and the national publicity given to the occasion provided the means to enjoy the fire that had formerly burned low (Hughes de Jones 1980, 34). Today the links between the two countries are stronger than ever, and many of the old pioneers would be glad to know that, 140 years after the landing, it is possible to confirm that the fire is still burning.

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REFERENCES Books Bourhis, R. Y. 2001 Reversing Language shift in Quebec, in Joshua Fishman (ed.), 2001, 101-141. Fishman, Joshua 2001 Can threatened languages be saved?, U. K.: Multilingual Matters. Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence 1983 The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hughes de Jones, Irma 1980 Pennod I: Flor de Ceibo, in R. Bryn Williams (gol.), 1980 11-40. 1993 Atgofion Eisteddfodol in Guto Roberts and Marian Roberts Elias (goln), 125-140.

Jones, Robert Owen 1997 Hir Oes ir Iaith, Llandysul: Gwasg Gomer.

Roberts, Guto and Roberts Elias, Marian (goln) 1993 Byw ym Mhatagonia: detholiad o gynnyrch cystadlaethau yn Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru i rai sydd wedi byw yn Y Wladfa Gymreig ym Mhatagonia, Caernarfon: Gwasg Gwynedd. Williams, Glyn 1975 1978 1991 The Desert and the Dream: A study of Welsh colonization in Chubut. 1865-1915, Cardiff: Cardiff University Press. Industrialization and Ethnic Change in the Lower Chubut Valley, Argentina. American Ethnologist, 5, 618-631. The Welsh in Patagonia: The State and the Ethnic Community. Cardiff; University of Wales Press.

Williams, R. Bryn 1962 Y Wladfa, Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru. Williams, R. Bryn (gol.) 1980 Atgofion o Batagonia: ysgrifau gan rai o'r gwladfawyr sydd yno heddiw, Llandysul: Gwasg Gomer. Newspapers and Magazines 12

Jornada (1965), Chubut, Argentina. Sitio al Margen (http://www.almargen.com.ar/), December 2001.

Walter Ariel Brooks & Geraldine Lublin School of Welsh/Ysgol y Gymraeg Cardiff University/Prifysgol Caerdydd Cardiff/Caerdydd CF10 3EU Wales - United Kingdom

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