🌾 Ayoreo

Who Are the Ayoreo?

The Ayoreo (also Ayoreode) are a Zamucoan-speaking indigenous people of the Gran Chaco, living in Paraguay and Bolivia. Numbering approximately 5,000-6,000 contacted individuals, the Ayoreo are notable for including the last uncontacted indigenous groups in South America outside the Amazon basin. The Totobiegosode—a band of approximately 100-150 people—remain in isolation in the northern Paraguayan Chaco, refusing contact despite encroaching deforestation. Contacted Ayoreo communities were settled by missionaries beginning in the 1940s-1970s, often through forced contact that caused epidemics and deaths. Today they face severe challenges as their forest homeland is rapidly destroyed by ranching and agriculture.

Totobiegosode in Isolation

The Totobiegosode are a subgroup of Ayoreo who have refused contact with outside society. Living in the forests of the northern Paraguayan Chaco, they maintain a traditional nomadic lifestyle, despite their territory being encircled by cattle ranches and industrial agriculture. Satellite imagery and ground evidence confirm their presence—abandoned camps, footprints, and occasional sightings. Their forest is being rapidly cleared for ranching, sometimes bulldozing through areas where they are known to be present. Survival International and other organizations campaign for their territorial protection. Some Totobiegosode individuals have emerged voluntarily in recent years, often ill or seeking help, providing testimony about conditions in isolation and the terror of bulldozers approaching.

Forced Contact

Most Ayoreo were contacted through missionary expeditions, particularly by the New Tribes Mission, from the 1940s through 1986. These "manhunts" deliberately sought out forest groups, sometimes using recently contacted Ayoreo as guides and intermediaries. Contact brought devastating epidemics—measles, flu, and tuberculosis killed significant proportions of newly contacted bands. Survivors were settled in mission stations where traditional practices were suppressed. Some Ayoreo experienced what they describe as a traumatic rupture from their previous life. First-hand accounts describe the terror and confusion of contact, the deaths of relatives from disease, and the difficulty of adjusting to settled life. This contact history represents a particularly well-documented case of forced integration and its consequences.

Contemporary Ayoreo

Contacted Ayoreo live in settlements in Paraguay and Bolivia, struggling with poverty, discrimination, and land loss. Traditional subsistence is largely impossible; some work as laborers on farms and ranches, others sell crafts. Cultural knowledge persists but transmission is challenging in settled conditions. Ayoreo organizations campaign for territorial rights, both for settled communities and for protection of Totobiegosode lands. The Paraguayan Chaco is being deforested faster than almost anywhere on Earth, primarily for cattle ranching; this threatens both contacted and uncontacted Ayoreo. International solidarity campaigns have achieved some land purchases and protections, but the overall trajectory is one of continuing forest loss and community marginalization.

References

• Bessire, L. (2014). Behold the Black Caiman: A Chronicle of Ayoreo Life
• Survival International. (2010). The Uncontacted Ayoreo
• Bórmida, M. & Califano, M. (1978). Los Ayoreo del Chaco Boreal