c^e SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION y c - BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 143 HANDBOOK OF SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS Julian H. Steward, Editor- Volume 1 THE MARGINAL TRIBES Prepared in Cooperation With the United States Department of State as a Project of the Interdepartmental Committee on Cultiu-al and Scientific Cooperation Nimuendajú Curt Digital Biblioteca http://www.etnolinguistica.org/hsai UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1946 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washinston 25. D. C. Price $2.75 Part 2. Indians or the Gran Chaco ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CHACO By Alfred Metraux GEOGRAPHY The name Chaco, which seems to be derived from a Quechua word meaning "hunting ground," is applied to the vast plain which lies in the center of the South American Continent between the fringe of the Matto Grosso Plateau and the Argentine Pampa. Geographically, the Chaco is a depressed area, bordered on the west by the first ranges of the sub-Andean mountains, and on the north by the low hills and summits detached from the central Brazilian massif and from the Sierras de San Jose and San Carlos, south of Chiquitos. On the east the Chaco is bounded by the Paraguay and Parana Rivers and by the widely scattered rocky hills which rise along the Paraguay River. To the south it ends at the foot of the Sierras de Cordoba and Guayasan. Between these mountains and the Parana River there is a wide gap where the Chaco merges without marked transition into the Pampa. The present-day boundaries of the Chaco as a culture area do not coincide with those of the Chaco as a geographical entity (map 1, No. 5; maps 4, 5). The sub-Andean range of hills (Western Cordil- lera) lying north and south of the Pilcomayo River falls within the habitat of the Chiriguano and Chane^ two tribes that culturally and linguistically have little or nothing in common with the Chaco peo- ples. Until a few years ago (1935-37?) many Chane had their vil- lages on the lower Parapiti River, but they now have been settled by the Paraguayan Army near Lopez de Filippis in the very heart of the Chaco. For purely cultural reasons, the Parapiti River and the marshes of Izozog mark the northwestern limits of the Chaco. On the east, however, there was a close correspondence between natural and cultural boundaries until the end of the 17th century, when the Mhayd invasions into the regions east of the Paraguay River annexed to the Chaco culture area the Guarani lands situated between the Apa and the Miranda Rivers. 197 198 SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS [B. A. E. Bdll. 143 Physical features.—The Chaco plain slopes gently toward the east and more sharply toward the southeast. In the extreme north there rises a quartz plateau, 1,800 feet (550 m.) above sea level, with isolated summits (Cerro San Miguel and Cerro Chico). This whole region is still little known and shelters a few Zamuco tribes {Moro^ Guaranoca, Tsirakua) who have never had any contacts with Wliite people. In the south there is an area of great depression with large salt marshes. The soil of the Chaco, like that of the Pampa, is a clayish loess. Not a stone can be found over most of its extension. In many parts of the Chaco, especially in dried lagoons and marshes, the ground is covered with a thin crust of salt. Water system.—Of the many rivers which originate in the Andes and flow into the Chaco, only the Pilcomayo River, the Bermejo River, and Rio Salado reach the Paraguay or the Parana Rivers; the others are lost in the sands, though some in earlier times dug beds hundreds of miles long, which in the rainy season are full of marshes, pools, and lagoons. The most important river in the Chaco is the Pilcomayo. Along its upper course it is paralleled by dry river beds and cahadas which it supplies with water during the annual floods. At about its middle course the Pilcomayo no longer flows between cliffs, but disappears into the Estero Patiiio, a huge marshy tract, lying between the Dorado and the Porteno Rivers. When it reappears at the other end of the Estero Patiiio it is divided into two branches, the Brazo Norte and the Brazo Sur. Farther on, these two main arms join again and flow into the Paraguay River, near Lambare. The lower course of the Pilco- mayo River is also a region of swamps, lagoons, and canadas. The greatest floods of the Pilcomayo River occur during the summer months, February to April, but most of the water is absorbed by the marshes of the Estero Patiiio. Like the Pilcomayo River, the Bermejo River loses its valley on entering the Chaco plain, where it follows a most capricious course. In 1868, its waters took a northerly direction and now flow through the Teuco River. Between the old dry bed and the new one there are innumerable lagoons, caiiadas, and madrejones. The two branches meet again around lat. 25°45' S., where the river assumes once more the name of Bermejo River. The Bermejo is a typical Chaco river, continually changing its course, traveling from one stream bed to another, cutting its meanders, and forming new branches which are later destroyed (pi. 45). The third important river of the Chaco is the Rio Salado, which on its upper course is known as the Pasaje or Juramento River. As a result of the river's past deviations, the whole southern Chaco is furrowed by a system of dry beds and caiiadas. Vol. 1] ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CHACO—METRAUX 199 The Parapiti is the only river in the Chaco that belongs to the Amazon water system. It disappears into the marshes of the Izozog and emerges again on the other side under the name of Tunas Kiver. In the northeastern part of the Chaco, the only water course worth mentioning is the Otuquis River, which is dry during a large part of the year. On the whole, the Chaco is a dry country (pi. 46) which would be hardly suitable for human settlement were it not that lagoons, water holes, cailadas, and madrejones are abundantly scattered throughout the area. These water holes may dry up suddenly, and the Indians who depended on them are then forced to migrate to more favorable surroundings. Scarcity of water rather than the hostility of the Indians has hampered for centuries the exploration of the Chaco. The Chaco climate varies somewhat from east to west. Rainfall is heavier in the east (50 inches (1.3 m.) a year), starts earlier (Octo- ber) , and ends only in May. In the center and west, the dry season lasts about 6 months, and the precipitation is less abundant, especially in the central portion of the Chaco (25 inches (63 cm.) a year). In winter, from June to August, when the cold south wind blows, the temperature at night may fall several degrees below the freezing point. The highest temperatures in South America (46° C.) have been recorded in the Chaco, near Villamontes and the Rio Salado. The flora and fauna of the Chaco are discussed under Subsistence Activities. POST-CONTACT HISTORY Exploration and conquest.—The dry forests and swamps of the Chaco, inhabited by wild and warlike Indians, had little to entice the Spanish conquistadors. This region, which even today is in some parts terra incognita, was, however, one of the first areas in the in- terior of South America to be explored by the Whites. The Chaco in itself was unimportant ; its historical role was due to the fact that it was the gateway to the fabulous lands of the west from which the Guarani received the silver and gold objects seen by the Spaniards from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to Paraguay. For almost half a century the history of the Rio de la Plata consisted of a series of attempts to master the Chaco in order to reach the land of the "metal and of the white king." When, in 1548, the conquistadors under Do- mingo Martinez de Irala finally realized their dream, it was too late. The rich mountain lands of the west had fallen into the hands of Pizarro and his companions. However, the first man to cross the Chaco and set foot in the empire of the Inca was a Portuguese sailor, Alejo Garcia, a shipwrecked member of the Solis armada. Sometime between 1521 and 1526 he joined a party of Guarani who, like many other Gu(wani groups, were moving westward to loot the border tribes 200 SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS [B. A. E. Bull. 143 of the Inca Empire. Alejo Garcia crossed the northern Chaco (along lat. 19° or 20° S.) and reached the country of the Chane and of the Caracara {Gharcas). Although he was murdered on the way back, the news of his exploit and of the wealthy country he had discovered had reached the Portuguese on the Atlantic coast. Kumors about the Peruvian gold carried by the Guarani or the Chane provoked a gold rush that started with Sebastian Cabot, 1526, and ended with Do- mingo Martinez de Irala and Nufrio de Chavez. The history of the Chaco in the 16th century cannot be separated from that of the conquest of the Rio de la Plata. Asuncion was founded in 1536 only as a convenient base for the exploration of the Chaco. The main events which marked that period were : The tragic expedition of Juan de Ayolas, 1537-39, who crossed the Chaco to the land of the Chane, but on his return was massacred near La Candelaria by the Payagud Indians; the 26-day expedition of Domingo Martinez de Irala from San Sebastian, 8 leagues (24 miles) south of La Candelaria westward, 1540; the expedition of Alvar Nuiiez Cabeza de Vaca against the Mhayd Guaicuru in 1542 ; the reconnoitering expedition of Domingo Martinez de Irala in 1542 to Puerto de los Reyes (lat.