Guanaes

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Map on the history of the indigenous peoples of Uruguay

The Guanaes or Guanás (also Spanish: Chanés , Portuguese: Xané ) were an indigenous people of South America . The members of the originally peasant ethnic group, who settled 3000 years ago in what is now Suriname in the north of the continent and spoke an Arawak language , migrated south over the centuries and settled in areas of eastern Bolivia from the 4th century AD and later of southern Brazil (especially the state of Mato Grosso do Sul ), northeastern Argentina and, in the 17th century, parts of Uruguay and Paraguay .

In Bolivia their descendants are called Isoceños . There they were allied with the Inca in the 14th and 15th centuries and built a sanctuary on the rock of Samaipata , 120 kilometers from Santa Cruz de la Sierra .

In the Gran Chaco the peaceful Guanaes lived as hunters, fishermen and gatherers until the 18th century; they were enslaved by the Guaraní (especially by the now extinct ethnic group of the Paiaguás and the warlike Mbyá ), and their wives, who originally had a strong position in the family, had to marry Guaraní. This is where the Guaraní adopted the name tapii , which means "slaves". Due to their increasing fragmentation and intermingling with the Guaraní (which only did not occur in Bolivia), their language is now extinct. In the 18th century they were partially settled with other tribes in Jesuit missions, where they practiced agriculture.

In Argentina, the Chanés are still statistically recorded as an ethnic group with a few thousand members; communities in the province of Salta are also recognized as indigenous Chanés communities. In Brazil, some groups are known as Terenas . The information about the affiliation to the different tribes and their origin and self or external designation vary greatly in the literature and are unreliable because the tribal traditions have long been extinct.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ El Fuerte des Samaipata
  2. ↑ People in the Pantanal
  3. ↑ Mbaya Indians on www.newadvent.org (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Web links