The Ayoreo People
The Ayoreo people are known in scientific literature as a nation of Amazonian origin that has inhabited the northern Chaco, both on the Bolivian and Paraguayan sides, since time immemorial. After a period of contact with Jesuit missions, this ethnic group decided around 1750 to close off their territories to the intrusion of white settlers, maintaining a warrior stance for the next 200 years. In the process, they subdivided into several territorial groups, the most representative in Paraguay being the Guidaigosode, the Garaigosode, and the Totobiegosode.
All territorial groups, both in Bolivia and Paraguay, still feel united as one people. This unity is sustained by the group’s collective memory and the new survival challenges they all face. Their common language undoubtedly serves as the strongest bond of unity and shared identity. Through visits between groups, the exchange of audio cassettes, messages via radio stations, and the maintenance of a radio network in most communities, they actively build their ethnic identity.
The Ayoreo of different communities also feel connected through a set of values passed down through collective memory. They see themselves as a people who embody boldness, cunning, and courage; their members take initiative in economic activities, prove their bravery as workers, and are assertive in defending their rights. They continue to organize their economies around nuclear families, and their social life revolves around kinship groups, which include clan relatives with ties extending across all communities. The value of generosity encompasses all these relatives, maintaining a sophisticated system of reciprocity in daily subsistence, though money is excluded from transactions of solidarity.
The traditional social organization of the Ayoreo was adapted to their subsistence conditions. During the dry season, they typically lived in extended families composed of multiple nuclear families. They were quite mobile, covering vast areas in their movements. In the summer, the various families would reunite in villages where they cultivated their crops. Several villages would form alliances to create a territorial group, and these groups, in turn, all identified with the Ayoreo nation.
It is important to highlight that beyond geographical organization, the entire Ayoreo nation is also governed by a system of "spiritual kinship," represented by clans or cucherái. These clans originate from mythological times, possessing different qualities and virtues, and are associated with the ownership of specific animals, plants, and objects.
Today, this kinship system continues to be recognized, fostering solidarity and prohibiting marriages within the same clan. Clan names are also now used as surnames. The seven clans, which transcend all territorial groups, are: Etacóre (Etacóro for females), Picanerái (Picaneré), Chiquenói (Chiquenore), Dosapéi (Dosapé), Cutamurajái (Cuchaméjnoró), Jnurumini (Jnuruminé), and Posorajái (Posijnoró).
Part of the collective memory also includes explanatory systems rooted in the times of their mythological ancestors. These beings, known as Jnanibajade, underwent multiple transformations to create the natural world and the Ayoreo people, leaving behind the rules for how they should interact with each other. For example, the Jnanibajai Jnumí transformed into the earth and invited others to walk upon him. Another Jnanibajai, Guede, transformed into the sun, and so on. In each case, their literary tradition incorporates both these origin myths and the prohibitions and healing measures related to illnesses that might arise from breaking these rules.
This means that plants, animals, and objects derive their meaning and connection to human culture through myths that provide knowledge about them. In earlier times, this included understanding all taboos necessary to maintain harmony with their natural and spiritual surroundings. Such prohibitions, known as puyak, dictated the proper handling of objects, food, and social relationships. For example, it was puyak for young people to smoke a pipe, as doing so would make them ill. A woman was forbidden to eat turtle eggs, as it was believed to cause complications in childbirth. Eating fatty meat at night was puyak because it would lead to a threatening dream that would later become reality. A farmer should not sharpen his tools in the field, as this would attract pests.
These traditional knowledge systems, combined with later experiences added to their collective wisdom, enabled the Ayoreo to survive successfully in the Chaco. Awareness of these rules and knowledge remains strong in the minds of the Ayoreo people today, and they continue to reshape their explanatory systems in light of new experiences and newly acquired knowledge.
The various Ayoreo groups are also fully aware that, based on recent collective experiences, they are at different stages in the process of transforming and redesigning their explanatory systems. In this context, they ensure that these differences do not interfere with their sense of belonging to the collective "we." They also share the conviction that economic subsistence must be secured as the foundation for the cultural strategies that will shape their evolving collective identity.
As part of this process, they seek greater intercultural recognition from the neo-American society and from governmental and non-governmental institutions, as well as support for economic and social projects. They are also open to acquiring new knowledge and skills to facilitate access to such cooperation. For a time, they experimented with political party participation as a means of access but realized it was incompatible with their cultural project. It tended to create internal divisions within their communities. Additionally, the Ayoreo leadership model is more that of a mediator between their group and "others" rather than one that acts in "representation" of the group. Moreover, the concept of reaching consensus through community assemblies remains a challenge for those who traditionally made decisions in consultation with key group members, including respected men and women.
Nevertheless, the aspiration for unity among all Ayoreo people continues to drive efforts to experiment with new methods of "representative democracy." This is evident in the statutes of the “Union of Ayoreo Natives of Paraguay” (UNAP), which is structured as an organization based on the management of community representatives. However, the "life project" outlined in its statutes follows the same path of transforming traditional values in response to the new demands of their changing environment. For example, the organization aims to consolidate Ayoreo territories, demand government recognition, generate economic development, improve healthcare and education services, and promote job creation.