THE GUARANI IN BOLIVIA

The Guarani have inhabited the area now known as Bolivia for over 2500 years. This article contains excerpts that have been translated from, and can be found in Spanish at, this site: http://www.prodiversitas.bioetica.org/tupi.htm.

The peoples of the Arawak language family, a linguistic family that extends throughout the Amazon, Orinoco, Antilles, and Northern Colombia, settled in the region known today as Bolivia and Argentina about 2500 years ago. They occupied the western region of the Gran Chaco and parts of the provinces of Salta and Jujuy.

They were defeated by the Guarani (also known as Chiriguanos, in Quechua), who arrived in this region between the 13th and 14th centuries. The Guarani (Chiriguanos) subjugated the Arawak peoples making them “minor partners”, and changed their name to Chané. The families of both peoples developed a peculiar way of living together calling themselves the Tupi Guarani (although in literature they are more commonly referred to by their Quechan name: Chiriguano-Chané).

The Legend

Tupi Guarani history states that two brothers, Tupí and Guaraní, were traveling these regions with their wives and families until disputes between the two women caused them to go their separate ways.

Thus Guaraní headed East. The peoples now known as Guaranís in Paraguay, Northwest Argentina and southern Brazil originated from his family. Tupí headed West, establishing his family in what is now Bolivia, in northwestern Argentina, northern Chile and southern Perú.

Political Organization

They had a political organization in which men did all the decision-making with a Chief and Council of “Ancianos” (Elders). Families owned private property (for gardens and produce) and there were also collective properties for community work and use (called “mingas” or “motiros”). Large community houses called “malocas” were built form tree trunks and stray, as were barns.

Economy

The Guarani branch of the family preferred hunting and warring, leaving the Arawak families to do the cultivating and to work as artisans. Guarani became their common language, although over time, there is evidence their languages mixed.

The Arawak practiced horticulture, rotating crops and using fertilizer. They produced corn, manioc, peanuts, yams, cotton and beans. They also raised herds of llamas. They used bows and arrows to hunt, as well as traps, and used nets and arrows to fish. They were well-versed in working silver and gold, making pottery, wood carving, and had a small textile industry.

The Guaraní cultivated manioc, corn, tobacco, cotton, and vegetables and used slash-and-burn methods of clearing the jungle to use the land for crops. They were skilled warriors and hunted with bows and arrows. They used many fishing techniques using bait and tackle, spears, nets, and traps.

Cosmology

When the taperigua plant (Cassia carnavalis) blooms, the Tupí Guaraní begin a time of celebration called the “Arete” which continued until the blooms withered. This was an agricultural ritual that took place when the abatí (corn) began to ripen, which they used to make “kanwi” – known in Spanish as “chicha” (an alcoholic corn meal beverage).

The women would prepare great quantities of kanwi and would make themselves a new dress “mandu” or “tipoy” and would look for uruku seeds which they used to paint their cheeks red during the “Arete” Festival.

The Chief (also called a Captain) would initiate the festivities. They would wear masks (aña añas) and play musical instruments as they danced toward the groupings of houses, led by one person carrying a stick adorned with taperigua flowers. They would drink from the vessels containing kanwi, their ritual beverage and dance in rows or circles in mixed groups of men and women, adults and children. The presence of Europeans in the area seems to have led to a change in the dates of this festival from August to February.

Along with the conquistadors and colonists, missionaries arrived (often before them, in order to facilitate domination) and soon the festival dates were changed to coincide with the European “carnaval”. This may have also led to them to abandon the tradition of orgies.

Masks

Inspired by the Arawak, the tradition of making and using masks still exists. The use, by men, of ritual masks is one of the most outstanding features of the Arete festival. Men, especially the young men, would go into forest to look for “samóu”, a wood also called “yuchán” or “palo borracho”, with which they made their masks. Their masks depicting animals are especially realistic. The most common are parrots, toucans, dogs, deer, tapirs, jaguars, pumas, monkeys, and now also bulls, horses, and goats. They also made masks of human faces.

Music

Music groups played the pieces to which they danced during the festival and also danced as they played. The instruments they most commonly use are:

Temïmbi – a type of flute generally made of sugarcane, but now also of metal.

Pin Pin – a type of small drum

Ungúa – drums that look like the wooden mortars used to grind corn

Basket Weaving

Although some women weave, it is primarily the men who used plants to weave baskets and other items. They usually use the “caranday” palm (also called black palm), but they have to travel far to find them. They also used a hollow reed called the “tankuaransi” to make baskets. They make hats, baskets, mats, chairs, and other items and sell them in the local market. They are also used to barter with other neighboring communities. They also make pottery, although this is exclusively a job for the women.

Their Current Situation

In 1986 there were 18,000 known Tupí Guaraní (both Arawak and Guaraní) in Bolivia. Most of them work on haciendas, in sawmills, and live on borrowed or rented land. A few work for oil companies, some road construction companies, and some hydroelectric companies. Some inhabit government land that has not yet definitively been declared theirs.

They still use their own language, Guaraní, but at the schools they attend only Spanish is spoken and because of this, and their state of malnutrition, many don’t advance much in their studies.

Return from Guarani to Home Page

Custom Search

---