Ideas and practices of nationality and citizenship in the Republic of Argentina (and before that, in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and the Inca Empire) have changed with distinct periods of its history, including but not limited to periods of indigenous, colonial, republican, and military rule.
These periods, in which political rights were often denied to both citizens and non-citizens, encouraged the development of resistance movements. This history of resistance and fighting for political rights is deeply imbedded in the modern Argentine notion of citizenship.
Inca nationality
The Inca Empire was a conglomeration of conquered ethnic groups - etnías - ruled by ethnic Inca from the Cuzco-Lake Titicaca Basin in what is now central Peru. They called their empire Tiwantinsuyu, meaning "four corners." Modern northern and western Argentina was a part of Kollasuyu. The Inca elite imposed their own institutions on conquered territories, while at the same time incorporating local customs on a case-by-case basis. Because the Argentine portion of Kollasuyu was on the edge of the empire the communities there had even more local autonomy than elsewhere in the empire, but were still subject to Inca protection and duties through the mita system of reciprocity. At the same time, Inca statebuilding was based on the threat of violence. This interplay of threat and promise, combined with the ethnic diversity of the conquered groups, created an Inca citizenship that was not ethnic but territorial and administrative, and based on a reciprocal relationship of rights and duties. Though citizens were ultimately loyal to their particular etnías and communities (ayllus), the Inca Empire's formal structures were a clear and unifying presence, even at its edges.
Mita
The Inca state functioned through a complex system of labour extraction and tribute which consolidated their power over conquered regions. This tribute always took the form of people and their time, and was couched in kinship terms. Censuses were conducted using the quipu, and individual ethnic groups were assigned unique goods and public services to provide as their tax. In return, citizens received immediate rewards (like feasts), as well as the promise that their ayllus would be provided protection from enemies and food if, for example, their harvests failed.
Other expressions of Inca presence
The spoken language of Quechua was the official spoken language of all governance (the Inca had no written language), and became a symbol of Inca presence through contact with officials and the renaming of local landmarks. Imperial, administrative titles were given to local officials and ethnic/ayllu leaders, thus incorporating them into the empire's broader, administrative structure. As mentioned, the Inca conducted detailed censuses using the quipu. Inclusion on the census made one, officially, an Inca subject. The Inca resettled conquered peoples for a variety of administrative reasons. Often, the moving of these mitmaqkuna settlers was purely an expression of power over newly conquered subjects.
Colonisation and the Viceroyalty
After being colonised by the Spanish, Argentina was made part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. In 1776 it became part of the new, and ultimately short-lived, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Throughout Spanish America, citizenship was both a legal and a social status that was implicit rather than formal, and largely informed by one's racial and class background. As in the Inca Empire, the colonising power's concepts were combined with the unique dictates of the situation in the colony itself.
Vecindad
Vecino was the blanket term for community member in Spain and colonial and independent Spanish America, and is rather more extensive than the modern "citizen", implying ownership of property and respectability. The criteria for being a vecino were never defined in legislation, but rather conceived of as a natural, general rule. It is a nuanced, personal status directly related to a person's standing within the community. Shaped by the conditions in the colony, the term took on a broader meaning in the Americas than it had in Spain itself, where citizenship and nationality were not concerns for most, and where the racial makeup was more homogenous.
Naturaleza
Naturaleza, meaning "naturaleness" or "nativeness," was a second term for citizenship in Spain and Spanish America. It usually applied to "natives of the kingdoms of Spain," and was more closely linked to the Crown and subjecthood. Like vecindad, naturaleza was never clearly defined in the law, and took on a broader meaning than in Spain itself.