Argentine-Falklands Conflict Touches Both to Core Ever since seafaring explorers happened upon these uninhabited islands in the 16th century, people have been fighting over them. The early years were a jumble, reflecting expansive dreams in the age of empires. The remote South Atlantic archipelago was variously spotted, mapped, named or claimed by Portuguese, Dutch, French, British, Spanish and American sailors for three centuries before Argentina officially declared its independence from the Spanish crown in 1816. To Argentines and Falkland Islanders, the words "colonialism" and "self-determination" aren't mere abstractions - they still touch the core of how each see themselves as a people. It's why, as the 30th anniversary of Argentina's brief and bloody war with Britain approaches, many islanders believe the dispute will never end. But some islanders are beginning to imagine a way out. While all agree that islanders alone must determine their future, and most seem comfortable with being a self-governing British Overseas Territory, some say the conflict with Argentina can only be resolved if they remove colonialism from the discussion by charting a course toward complete independence. Many islanders already refer to their land as a "country." In this Sunday March 4, 2012 photo, a tomb from 1890 sits in the town cemetery which has many graves dating from the 1800s in Stanley, Falkland Islands. As the 30th anniversary of Argentina's brief and bloody war with Britain approaches, many islanders believe the dispute will never end. "I think it's up to us to announce, even if it will never come to pass, that we aim for independence," said John Fowler, who made the islands his home after arriving as a contract schoolteacher from Britain in 1971. It changes the argument. It says we are a developing nation of our own, which is much better understood in a postcolonial world. But Fowler's remains a minority view. "We have our own identity - Falkland Islanders first and foremost, and British second," said Stephen Luxton, the Falkland Islands Government's mineral resources director. Our status as a British Overseas Territory is one everybody here is quite happy with. We're not an imposed population and we're not oppressed either. The Argentines' identity also is wrapped up in their historic claim against the British, which dates back to the republic's founding. The French settled the islands first, in 1764, naming them Iles Malouines, which the Spanish translated as Las Malvinas. A year later the British established a settlement there as well, claiming the islands as their own, without realizing that the French were already there, on the other side of the archipelago. Their dispute, and many others, continued until 1833, when the British Navy definitively took control. A few years earlier, in its campaigns against Spain, Britain had attacked Buenos Aires. Memories of British troops in their capital were raw as Argentina became a nation - and ever since, Argentines have considered the islands their lost province, a vestige of colonial power they believe Britain stole from them after ousting the South Americans who had been there. The view in the Falkland Islands is quite different. Records in Stanley show that there were hardly any people on the wind-swept, treeless islands when the British took control. The only people ousted were eight workers led by Antonio "Gaucho" Rivero who were arrested for murdering their five overseers, who were Scottish, Irish, German and French, in a labor dispute. The workers were paid in worthless scrip, and wanted real currency to make purchases from passing ships.