Dwr a Phwer yn Nyffryn Camwy: heriau a gwrthdaro ynghylch sefydlu a rheoli system ddyfrhau

Abstract

The aim of this article is to construct the history of the irrigation system in the Lower Chubut Valley created by the Welsh settlers that arrived in Patagonia (Argentina) in 1865, which complicated the relationship that existed between this infrastructure and the ever-changing sociopolitical framework. This will involve focusing on the institutions that the Welsh settlers themselves established and the conflicts that arose between them and the Argentine state, which took over the administration of irrigation in 1943. Emphasis will be given to the agency of water within the process that led to reinforcing and growing the irrigation infrastructure, and attention will also be given to the symbolic dimension of the objects that constitute this infrastructure, thereby enabling a reflection on their changing meanings.

Bwriad yr erthygl hon yw llunio hanes y system ddyfrhau yn Nyffryn Camwy a grëwyd gan y gwladfawyr Cymreig a gyrhaeddodd Batagonia (yn yr Ariannin) ym 1865, gan gymhlethu’r berthynas a oedd yn bodoli rhwng y seilwaith hwn a’r fframwaith cymdeithasol-wleidyddol newidiol. Bydd hyn yn cynnwys rhoi sylw i’r sefydliadau a grëwyd gan y gwladfawyr eu hunain ac i’r gwrthdaro a fu rhyngddynt a gwladwriaeth yr Ariannin a ddaeth yn gyfrifol am y weinyddiaeth ddyfrhau ym 1943. Rhoddir pwys ar alluedd (agency) dwˆr o fewn y broses a arweiniodd at atgyfnerthu ac ehangu’r seilwaith dyfrhau, a rhoddir sylw hefyd i ddimensiwn symbolaidd y gwrthrychau sy’n rhan o’r seilwaith hwnnw gan fyfyrio ar eu hystyr newidiol.