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Stunnenberg Entitled to Land The Incorporation of the Paraguayan and Argentinean Gran Chaco and the Spatial Marginalization of the Indian People Verlag breitenbach Publishers Saarbrücken - Fort Lauderdale Entitled to Land The Incorporation of the Paraguayan and Argentinean Gran Chaco and the Spatial Marginalization of the Indian People EEN WETENSCHAPPELIJKE PROEVE OP HET GEBIED VAN DE BELEIDSWETENSCHAPPEN PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, volgens besluit van het College van Decanen in het openbaar te verdedigen op dinsdag 7 september 1993 des namiddags te 3.30 uur precies door Petrus Walterus Stunnenberg geboren op 9 april 1963 te Nijmegen Promotor: Prof. Dr. J.M.G. Kleinpenning ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ibis book was written over a period of four years with the Department of Human Geography of Developing Countries, Faculty of Policy Sciences, Catholic University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The study is based on two periods of fieldwork among the Indian people of the Paraguayan and Argentinean Gran Chaco, carried out from 1990 to 1992. The study is far from complete since a considerably longer period of time would have to be spent in the field in order to fully comprehend the complex developments that currently take place in the Chaco region. It does, however, sketch the main topics related to the troublesome access to land that presently seems to strike all Indian people in the region. In the book, names of people have been omitted where possible in order to respect the privacy of respondents and informants. I am grateful to all people who in one way or another contributed to the realization of this book. I would particularly like to thank Dr. Henk Hack for his involvement with my work and the interesting correspondence we have had over the past few years. I would also like to express my thanks to Luis de la Cruz, Wayne Robins and Dr. Wilmar Stahl who offered useful advice and support during my fieldwork and commented on parts of the manuscript. I am grateful also to Andrew Cole, Herman Kok and Hananja Olthuis for revising my English texts. Acknowledgement is also to made of the educative advice of Frans van Buul who patiently explained the workings of the computer to me. To Prof. Dr. Jan Kleinpenning I express my sincere gratitude for the way be encouraged and supervised my work. I have enjoyed working at his Department of Human Geography of Developing Countries. To my wife Cécile, who accompanied me on the trips through the Chaco and with whom I shared long evenings of interesting discussions, I can only say that I would not have enjoyed the fieldwork without her. Last but not least is my debt to the Indian people in Loma Pytá, Colonia Aborigen, Pluma de Pato, Colonia Armonía, Barrio Nam Qom and Puerto Diana who always gave us a friendly welcome and co-operated constructively with the study. Peter Stunnenberg Nijmegen, April 1993 CONTENTS Acknowledgements ν Contents vìi Lists of maps, figures and tables χ Introduction 1 1 Developments in the Gran Chaco up to 1875 5 1.1 The natural environment of the Gran Chaco 5 1.2 The pre-colonial period 9 1.3 The colonial period and the Gran Chaco 14 1.4 The Gran Chaco after independence 21 2 The incorporation of the Gran Chaco after 1875 26 2.1 Introduction 26 2.2 Incorporation and colonization 27 2.3 The extraction of timber and tannin 34 2.4 Livestock breeding 46 2.5 Agriculture 51 2.6 Missions 60 2.7 Military forces 71 2.8 Government policy 75 2.9 General observations 86 2.10 Conclusion 91 3 Indigenous peoples and government policy 94 3.1 Introduction 94 3.2 Some reflections on hunters and gatherers 95 3.3 Legislation with respect to land for the Gran Chaco Indians 103 3.4 The spatial marginalization of the Gran Chaco Indians 112 3.5 Conclusion 116 3.6 An introduction to the case studies 117 vii 4 Occupiers of prívate land: The Nivaklé of Loma Pytá 120 4.1 Introduction 120 4.2 Indian occupiers of private land 120 4.3 The Nivaklé of Loma Pytá 125 4.4 Access to land and formal landownership 131 4.5 Conclusion 136 5 Indian communities on public property: The Wichi of Pluma de Pato 138 5.1 Introduction 138 5.2 Indian communities on public property 139 5.3 The Wichi in Pluma de Pato 143 5.4 Access to landownership and development projects 151 5.5 Conclusion 156 6 Indian reservations: The Mocovi and Toba of Colonia Aborigen Chaco 158 6.1 Introduction 158 6.2 Indian reservations in the Gran Chaco 159 6.3 The Mocovi and Toba of Colonia Aborigen Chaco 164 6.4 Land tenure in Colonia Aborigen 170 6.5 Conclusion 176 7 Indian communities and land of the Churches: The Lengua of Colonia Armonía 178 7.1 Introduction 178 7.2 Indian communities on land of the Churches 179 7.3 The Mennonite settlement programme 181 7.4 The Lengua of La Armonía 188 7.5 Land tenure in La Armonía 194 7.6 Conclusion 197 8 Individual allotment of Indian lands: The Toba of Barrio Nam Qom Clorinda 199 8.1 Introduction 199 8.2 Indian landownership adjudged to individuals 200 8.3 The Toba of Barrio Nam Qom Clorinda 203 8.4 Land tenure in Barrio Nam Qom Clorinda 209 8.5 Conclusion 215 viii 9 Indian communities with communal land titles: The Chamacoco of Puerto Diana 217 9.1 Introduction 217 9.2 Indian landownership adjudged to communities 218 9.3 The Chamacoco in Puerto Diana 220 9.4 Indian land tenure in Puerto Diana 227 9.5 Conclusion 233 10 Land for the indian people of the Gran Chaco: Opportunities and obstacles 235 10.1 Introduction 235 10.2 Drawing up the balance 236 10.3 The major obstacles 242 10.4 Looking into the crystal ball 245 10.5 Concluding remarks 249 Bibliography 253 Glossary 267 List of abbreviations 269 Index 270 Dutch summary 272 Curriculum vitae 277 List of maps Map 1.1 Division of the Gran Chaco into provinces (Argentina) and departments (Paraguay) 8 Map 1.2 Approximate territories of the Indian groups of the Gran Chaco in the 16th century 13 Map 2.1 Tannin factories, railways and quebracho stands in the Gran Chaco 42 Map 2.2 Military fortresses in the Gran Chaco before and during the Chaco War 76 Map 2.3 Present-day land use in the Gran Chaco 90 Map 3.1 Locations of the areas in the case studies 119 Map 4.1 Cattle ranch Loma Pytá 127 Map 5.1 Public land in the western part of the province of Salta (1983) 144 Map 5.2 Lot 20 152 Map 6.1 Colonia Aborigen Chaco 165 Map 6.2 The four major Indian reservations in the province of Chaco 173 Map 7.1 Indian colonies supported by the ASCTM (1991) 186 Map 7.2 Indian colony La Armonía 191 Map 8.1 Barrio Nam Qom Clorinda 206 Map 8.2 Barrio Nam Qom and adjoining blocks 212 Map 9.1 Puerto Diana 222 List of figures Figure 2.1 The export of quebracho extract (1895-1987) 44 Figure 2.2 Development of cattle herds in the Gran Chaco (1886-1991) 47 Figure 2.3 Area cultivated with cotton (1894-1991) 56 Figure 2.4 Population in the Argentine provinces of Chaco and Formosa and of the Paraguayan Chaco (1875-1990) 88 Figure 3.1 Aspects of spatial marginalization 115 Figure 10.1 Predicted changes in land tenure in the Gran Chaco 246 χ List of tables Table 1.1 Ethnic classification of the Gran Chaco Indians in the 16th century 12 Table 2.1 Tannin factories in the Gran Chaco 39 Table 2.2 Mennonite landownership in the Paraguayan Chaco (1927-1989) 49 Table 2.3 Crop fanning in the Mennonite colonies (1930- 1990) 58 Table 2.4 Present-day land use in the Gran Chaco 89 Table 2.S Present-day occupation of land in the Gran Chaco for agrarian purposes 91 Table 7.1 Indian colonies supported by the ASCIM (1991) 185 Table 8.1 Individual land titles in urban Indian communities in the province of Formosa up to 1991 201 Table 9.1 Communal land titles granted to Indian communities in the Gran Chaco un to 1991 219 INTRODUCTION "Esta tierra es de nadie, o sea que, es de nuestros antepasados..., los Indígenas de esta región. Pero los blancos dicen que ellos la compraron, esta tierra. Dicen que ahora es de ellos... " These words, spoken by a Nivaklé Indian in Loma Pytá touch upon the kernel of this study. The purpose of this book is to study the changes that have occurred in the Paraguayan and Argentinean Gran Chaco since 1875 and the manner in which these changes affected and still affect the way of life of the indigenous people in this area. Since the study was carried out and written mainly from a geographical point of view, the continuous thread that runs through the book will be the changes in the spatial structure of the Gran Chaco and the problems that currently face the Indian people in their struggle for land.