Ayoreo

Ayoreo is the name of an indigenous people group living in northwest Paraguay and southeast Bolivia . In Paraguay they are also known as morotocós or moros , corazo or kursu . Ayoreo is the self-name of the groups living on the border in the northern Gran Chaco , the total number of which is estimated at around 4,000. The Ayoreo language belongs to the Zamuco family . Until the middle of the 20th century they lived in an area of ​​around 300,000 km² between Río Paraguay , Río Pilcomayo , Río Parapetí and Río Grande .

Groups in Bolivia and Paraguay

In Bolivia there are ten groups, namely Zapocó, Poza verde, Puesto Paz, Guidai Ichai, Santa Teresita, Tobita, Urucú, Motacú, Rincón del Tigre, and Belen in the Germán Busch province and the Chiquitos province in the Santa Cruz department . There are around 1,700 people, including a group who chose voluntary isolation. These people continue the traditional hunter-gatherer life with simple gardening.

In Paraguay a distinction is made between three groups, namely the Guidaygosode - an amalgamation of various local groups living in the southern Chaco Central that has only existed since the 1950s - the Garaygosode and the Totobiegosode. They live in 15 villages in the north-western Boquerón and Alto Paraguay departments . A subgroup of the local group of Totobiegosode and four other unidentified groups continue their traditional way of life as hunters with simple horticulture. Three of the four unidentified groups live across the border to Bolivia. This small part of the Ayoreo people - max. 150 people strong - rejects contact with western society. They are counted among the Isolated Peoples and are among them the southernmost on the continent of America and in the entire world.

The word Totobiegosode means "people from the wild boar place " and describes the most isolated group of Ayoreo. Even today they still avoid contact with strangers. The Totobiegosode are hunters and gatherers . One of their rituals is the asojna ritual, which begins when the nightjar cries for the first time, thereby announcing the rainy season. This is the beginning of a time of celebration. According to Survival International , the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode are among the most threatened indigenous peoples in the world today.

history

The first Europeans made contact with some Ayoreo in 1537 when an expedition led by Juan de Ayolas († 1537) touched their area. The Jesuits built the mission station San Ignacio Zamuco (1724-1745).

Mennonites made contact with the Ayoreo in the 1940s, and some settled in their area.

At the beginning of the 21st century, ranchers penetrated the forest areas, which in turn are increasingly being displaced by the soybean industry . The environmental organization Iniciativa Amotocodie is now coordinating the land purchase for the Ayoreo. In it 13 villages in Paraguay have come together, which represent 95 percent of the Ayoreo in the country. They guarantee the traditional use of the land that has been gradually acquired. First beginnings for territorial purchases for the Ayoreo in the Dep. Boqueron date from 2003 with the acquisition of 3,700 hectares of woodland in the Amotocodie region and in 2008 with 8,000 hectares near the Médanos del Chaco NP. They are supported by the non-profit association Rettet den Regenwald in Hamburg . In December 2009 the Ayoreo received 1,800 ha, on April 17, 2010 the association was able to transfer a further 2,000 ha of rainforest to the Ayoreo, the purchase of which was made possible through private donations. Then there were Ijnapui (2005) and Cuyabia (2014). A total of 63,626 hectares (Dep. Boqueron), Chovoreka (19,983 hectares), which was transferred to the Garaygosode in the 1980s, and Puerto Maria Auxiliadora (18,750 hectares) and Cucaani (1,600 hectares) - all of them Dep. Alto Paraguay. For the Totobiegosode, 155,534 ha of their 550,000 ha land claim are assigned or registered with the state Indian authority INDI. This project, which has stagnated since 2014, is supervised by the NGO Gente, Ambiente y Territorio (GAT).

The German association Rettet die Naturvölker e.V. is particularly committed to traditionally living groups . V.

literature

• Lucas Bessire: Behold the Black Caiman: A Chronicle of Ayoreo Life. The University of Chicago Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-226-14089-6 ( Table of Contents )

Web links

• The Ayoreo - information and updates in: www.survivalinternational.de
• Etnia Ayoreo (Spanish)
• Buying a tropical forest in Paraguay
• Endangered Aborigines of Paraguay. Researchers as intruders , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, November 11, 2010.

Remarks

1. ↑ Edgardo Civallero: Glosario de lenguas indígenas sudamericanas , Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Argentina) (archive.org, PDF, 208 kB).
2. ↑ Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and map of the Ayoreo settlement areas in Bolivia ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Spanish)    
3. ↑ Way of life of the Ayoreo