The Western Guaraní

The Western Guaraní belong to those groups of Guaraní who, 500 years ago, migrated from the Río Apa region in Eastern Paraguay to the sub-Andean region of Bolivia, which today extends between Santa Cruz, Tarija, and Yacuiba. Historically, they have been identified as a warrior people who, through various expeditions and migrations, crossed the Chaco in search of "the land without evil." They became known as the Chiriguanos.

Beyond their warrior tradition, the Guaraní, or Chiriguanos, had a significant impact on the region with their successful agriculture. They cultivated various crops, including maize, sweet potatoes, beans, cotton, tobacco, prickly pear, sorghum, and cassava. To store their harvests, they built elaborate storage barns. They practiced collective labor, known as oñopytyö, in which everyone took turns working on an individual’s field, with the landowner being responsible for providing food and drink for the entire group on that day.

Unlike other Chacoan ethnic groups, the Western Guaraní were organized into patrilineal kinship groups. These local groups had political leaders who served as judges and military chiefs. Several communities would often follow the command of a supreme chief, tuvicharuvicha. Tribal tradition remembers leaders such as Manepóräi and Apiaguaiqui, as well as female leaders like Vuáyruyi. Leaders were expected to be individuals known for their good reasoning and persuasive speech. They worked like everyone else and were generous in economic matters, but they also demanded obedience from the group members.

When the Paraguayan army entered territories inhabited by the Western Guaraní in 1934, friendships were formed with some groups of the ethnicity, who later emigrated to the Paraguayan Chaco. They had hoped to receive ample agricultural land; however, their new Paraguayan friends took a long time to fulfill this promise. Today, one group has returned to an agrarian life in Pedro P. Peña, while another settled on their own land in Machareti, in the Laguna Negra area. Other groups have integrated into the labor market as professionals, working as construction workers, drivers, fencers, ranchers, and in other trades.

The ethnic identity of the Western Guaraní in Paraguay has been shaped by various acculturative factors. Their use of the Guaraní language automatically established a connection between this ethnic group and Paraguayan society. Their adherence to Catholicism also facilitated their acceptance by the majority population. Through prolonged interaction with the military establishment, the Western Guaraní gained official recognition as citizens—long before other indigenous groups received the same acknowledgment. They also aspired to formal education, achieving a level of schooling well above the Chacoan average.

The Guaraní Ñandeva

According to the oral tradition of the Guaraní Ñandeva, the Chaco region, where the border between Paraguay and Bolivia now runs, was once much more humid and was home to numerous Ñandeva villages. However, according to the elder Mboreví Resá, the climate gradually worsened until droughts transformed what had once been lush, wildlife-rich land into barren plains. Eventually, fires swept through the fields and forests, drying up the last remaining water sources in the region.

During these difficult times, the ancient Ñandeva were forced to move further and further west in search of economic ties with the Chiriguanos. They began working on Chiriguano farms and were paid in maize grains. Nevertheless, they continued hunting and gathering in their traditional habitat, migrating there at certain times of the year. However, their extended interaction with the Western Guaraní left a mark on Ñandeva culture: they adopted the Guaraní language and incorporated new economic knowledge, particularly in agriculture, pottery, and weaving.

The Ñandeva lived in extended families, and it was customary for a newlywed man to live and work with his in-laws. Their groups had chiefs, known as mburuvícha, who were typically individuals with great courage, kindness, generosity, and negotiation skills. Their role was to mediate internal conflicts and represent the group in external relations.

In later migrations, the Ñandeva once again demonstrated their adaptability to the Chacoan environment. After the Chaco War, when resources for their ancestral hunting traditions became scarce, they sought "benevolent dependence"—first with military outposts, then with German-Paraguayan landowners, and more recently with government institutions.

In their process of constructing their ethnic identity, the Guaraní Ñandeva, like their Western Guaraní neighbors, have sought recognition as "citizens" with all the rights guaranteed under national law. In recent decades, they have secured significant land areas, allowing most of them to establish an autonomous base for their communities. While they are still experimenting with a subsistence model combining day labor, agriculture, and livestock farming, the Ñandeva look to both governmental and non-governmental organizations for support. In this regard, they are also exploring strategies to gain access to goods and services from the wealthier sectors of society. Political participation has been one of their tested avenues for achieving this goal.