ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews what disciplines other than colonial studies produced by literary scholars have to say about indigenous materialities. It offers a general idea about the research produced on stone architecture and monumentality, diverse forms of organizing and exploiting the land, and different kinds of indigenous objects. It will be shown how, in most cases, the knowledge produced about indigenous material production is characterized by a Western gaze that has a serious impact on the way in which said production is represented and understood. It also discusses the ways in which different disciplines in Uruguay have dealt with the ultimate material manifestation of indigeneity: indigenous bodies themselves. A brief analysis of some cases of repatriation of human remains (in Uruguay, Argentina and the US) and of the recent reemergence of the Charrua Indians in Uruguay, illustrate how the scholarship produced by a significant number of academics on indigenous peoples of the past has serious consequences for present-day indigenous peoples.
