Ayoreo song
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The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode Indians live in the Chaco, a vast expanse of dense, scrubby forest stretching from Paraguay to Bolivia and Argentina.
Their territory has been bought by land speculators and ranchers and is now being rapidly cleared.
Almost all Ayoreo land is now owned by private landowners, who hire work-teams to clear the forest of valuable timber and then introduce cattle. Many of these new landowners are Mennonites, but much of the Ayoreo land has now been bought up by wealthy Paraguayan and, especially, Brazilian, cattle-ranching businesses.
© GAT/ Survival
The Indians are claiming title to just a fraction of their territory. Without their forest they cannot feed or support themselves, and they are also greatly concerned about their uncontacted relatives still living there.
Under Paraguayan law, this claim area should have been titled to the Indians years ago, as both Paraguayan law, and the country’s Constitution, recognize the Indians’ right to the ownership of their traditional lands.
But the powerful landowners have blocked the law at every turn, and have illegally bulldozed some of the forest already. The isolated Totobiegosode will have nowhere left to hide.
Two private estates in the heart of their territory are crucial to the Totobiegosode’s survival. One, owned by a firm called Jaguarete Pora, is intent on clearing most of ‘its’ forest as soon as possible. The Indians are desperately anxious to protect it.
