The last speakers of the language Guaná in Paraguay

Danilo Antón

The Guana nation, also called "North chaná" live on the east bank of the Paraguay River adjacent to the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The guaranizantes by spanish and Paraguay linguistic policies have weakened the use of their native language to the point that apparently just 4 older women who speak the language are.
The Guana belong to the linguistic family Arawak together with the Tainos (in the Caribbean), the paresis, the Enawene Nawe, extinct Chane and Moxos in Bolivia, the Terena in Brazil and many other (perhaps should also include south chaná and hypothetical arachanest).

Eminent anthropologist Alfred Metraux, in his classic book "Ethnography of the Chaco" says:
"The Northeast and Northwest Chaco border was inhabited in pre-Columbian times by a tribe of sedentary farmers who spoke Arawak dialect. They called themselves Chaná, but the Spaniards also used the name Chane. Related, no doubt, with Paressi and Mojo, were the southernmost representatives of large and extensive Arawak linguistic family, which is probably broadcast center located north of the Amazon. ". According to Metraux, one of the branches of the Guana were the Terena who migrated to the northeast and settled in Aquidauana in Mato Grosso do Sul. There and in neighboring areas there are still 18,000 Terena. The Terena have a matriarchal society, speak their language and establish a periodic fair in the city of Campo Grande, Brazil. The matriarchal nature of the society terena explains the survival and persistence of tribal and family ties.

Perhaps the Guana language became extinct, hopefully defend the Paraguayans know the language to survive, but its closest relative the Terena language, remains active and healthy.
Another issue to consider is the relationship between North chaná (Guana and Terena) to the south. In principle there would be a relationship that would classify South chaná as "Arawak". "Chana" means "person" in several Arawak languages.
They were also classified as "Charruas" and "pámpidos". It seems unreasonable. Chaná villages were fishermen and farmers lesser degree. They were very peaceful (allowing rapid reduction by the Spanish). The Chana, whose large population was originally made up of hundreds of thousands of people in hundreds of communities living in the Parana River north of the island Lechiguana and were used by the Spaniards to found reductions, the best known was Santo Domingo Soriano.

Charrúas, however, they had a very different behavior, resisted the conquest and colonization, and so far no reliable data that connect both languages.

A short time ago, unexpectedly, he came a chaná speaker in Nagoya, Entre Rios. Their testimony confirms the nature of the chaná matriarchal societies and it is through the female line that language was preserved. Perhaps it allows to recover the language and confirm (or not) the classification of that language as arawak
It's a good chance we Creoles and indigenous South America to defend the tongues of Chana, which are one of the most important legacies left to us the deep history of our countries.
(From the book "South First Nations" D.Antón, Piriguazú Editions)
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