Chorote - History and Cultural Relations



At the beginning of the twentieth century, the ethnic groups whose territories bordered on that of the Chorote were the Toba, the Chiriguano, and the Tapieté to the west and northwest; the Ayoreo to the north; the Nivaclé to the east and southeast and the Mataco-Guisnay to the south. With the exceptions of frequent intermarriage and commercial and military alliances with the Nivaclé and the Tapieté, Chorote relations with the surrounding groups continued to be hostile during this period. Then expeditions sent out by the Bolivian government to reconnoiter and pacify Chaco territory added to the growing pressure exerted by cattle ranchers, resulting in opportune extensions of intertribal alliances to resist occupation. Spreading occupation reduced indigenous lands, however, and brought the Indians into permanent contact with the dominant society. The Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia (1932-1935) impelled the Chorote to move continuously, and, at the end of the war, they were forced to settle in evangelical missions in Argentina and Mennonite settlements and Catholic missions in Paraguay. Because of systematic demands by native minorities of the Chaco, which began in the 1950s, government legislation was implemented in the 1980s for the recognition of native communities' territorial rights. Some land has been ceded to indigenous peoples through Law 23302/1984 (Argentina) and the Estatuto de Comunidades Indígenas (Statute of Indigenous Communities) Law 904/1980 (Paraguay).

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