The Bolivian Toba (Guaicuruan) Expansion in Northern Gran Chaco, 1550-1850

Bibliographic Data

ID2739893
AuthorsMarcela Mendoza (0000-0001-8163-8986, University of Oregon, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume66
Issue2
Pages275-300
Publication date2019-04-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnohistory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0014-1801 • E-ISSN: 1527-5477
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00141801-7298783
OpenAlexW2931853170
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited10

The Bolivian Tobas in northern Gran Chaco were mobile hunter-gatherers organized in bands. They called themselves qomleʔk, and spoke a distinctive variation of Guaicuruan language. For three hundred years, coalitions of Toba braves successfully rejected Jesuit missionaries, alternatively fought and aligned with neighboring groups, and resisted the advance of colonial settlers. However, little is known about the remote past of these resilient peoples, who became mounted foragers in the early 1600s. A careful review of historical, ethnographic, and linguistic records on Tobas around the Upper Pilcomayo River produced a considerable amount of information, pointing to the long-term continuity of their presence in the region. The materials were less informative on cultural and social changes in their society through time. This study presents new insights on Toba bands trekking territories on the Manso Plains

Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Ethnography · Ethnohistory · Ethnology · Geography · Period (music · Sociology · Anthropology · History · Indigenous Cultures and History · Latin American history and culture · Migration, Education, Indigenous Social Dynamics

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