Not to be forgotten
The genocide of the Aché Guayaki in Paraguay
D. Anton

The indigenous nation of the Aché Guayaki or simply Aché (they do not accept the term Guayaki) is made up of communities in the eastern region of Paraguay that have lived there since time immemoria times.
It is a people more ancient than the Guarani themselves. The Guarani settled in Paraguay and areas of influence about 2,000 years ago. The Aché were already there long time before. Originally they had their own language but gradually became guaranized and developed their own syncretic dialect. Although they were evicted from their ancestral lands, they managed to survive the Spanish conquest and colonization by entering the jungles, particularly the Canindeyú forests. 
Their drama became more acute at the end of the 1960s, during the military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, the policy of road expansion and the advancement of the agro-livestock sector towards the eastern region cornered the last “uncontacted” Aché of the Canindeyú forests . The Aché were a "problem" for the occupants of the "new lands" (which were ancestral Aché territory). 
At the end of the 1960s, the practice of organizing Aché hunts had been extended by the new settlers who settled in the area.

The dictatorial regime began at that time a campaign of forced sedentarization of the community to expel them from the region and concentrate them in the Guayakí National Colony, under military command, the Department of Indigenous Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense. Those who refused to move to the Colony were forcibly captured in "expeditions" organized by the military commanders of the Colony. The Aché were victims of murder, mass capture, forced displacement, etc. in what can be called a true ethnic cleansing operation at the new agro-livestock development zone.  Once in the Colony many Aché were handed over as practically slave labor. Particularly painful was the case of the sale and delivery of many of these children to Paraguayan families, suppressing their identity, ending in the majority of cases as domestic servants.
The Aché population declined rapidly. In pre-colonial times there were maybe 20,000 or 30,000 people. In the last census of 2012 there are just over 1,000 acculturated, discriminated against and subjected to poverty.

The Nivaclés, an ancient Chaco people in South America


The Nivaclés, also called Chulupí, are an indigenous people of the Chaco  region that inhabit both banks of the Pilcomayo River They are mainly located in rural areas of the departments of Boquerón and Presidente Hayes departaments in Paraguay and in the suburbs of the cities  Mariscal Estigarribia and Filadelfia They are linguistically related to the Wichís, Makas and Charrúas. The neighboring chorotes call them ashuslay or alhulhai.
In their language the word nivaclé  means person, we or our people. 
Historically, they have been planters of corn, beans, squash and cassava, carob pod and collectors of some wild plants. They also breed birds and small mammals and, in addition,  they fish and hunt.
The List of Indigenous Communities of Paraguay registers about 75 nivaclés communities in the Chaco. According to the results of the 2012 census, 16 350 Nivaclés live in Paraguay, of which 12 829 are in the department of Boquerón and 3,300 in the Presidente Hayes Department.

According to Paraguayan sources, the Nivaclés emigrated to the Chaco Boreal from the south of the Pilcomayo River in 1913 because of Argentine military pressure.

Since the mid-twentieth century some 15,000 Mennonites from Canada, Russia and Germany settled in the traditional Nivaclé territory, drastically altering their cultural and religious customs, and frequently using nivacles as cheap labor, without their rights being protected by the Paraguayan state.

In Argentina there are about 1,000 nivaclés, which generally live near the Pilcomayo River and its marshes in the provinces of Salto and Formosa, and to a lesser extent in the province of Chaco, in which they are concentrated in about 10 communities.

The Nivaclés are linguistically related to the wichís (that inhabit Salta, Formosa and the Chaco), to the macá (that reside in a suburban district of Asunción, and in smaller degree to the Charrúas (according to investigations that I realized and published in "The Peoples of the Jaguar") and perhaps to the Minuanes or Guenoas.

I enclose some images of a visit we made to nivaclés communities near Mariscal Estigarribia in the Paraguayan Chaco.

The genocide of the Ache Guayaki in Paraguayi

D.Antón

The Ache indigenous nation  (they do not accept the term Guayaki) consists of several communities in the eastern region of Paraguay living there since immemorial time. It is older than the Guarani because the. Guarani settled in Paraguay and hinterlands some 2,000 years ago. Ache were there already for a long time. They had their own language but gradually they developed a mixed Guarani dialectt. Although they were expelled from their ancestral lands they survived the Spanish conquest and colonization hiding into the forests, particularly the forests of Canindeyú. Their drama was heightened in the late '60s, during the military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, the policy of road expansion and advancement of the agricultural and livestock sector to the east cornered the last "uncontacted" Aché in the forests of Canindeyú . The Ache were a "problem" for the occupants of the new lands (which were ancestrally Ache territory). In the late '60s the settlers organized hunts of Ache.

The dictatorial regime, then, began a campaign of forced settlement of the community in order to expel them from the region and concentrate them in the National Guayakí Cologne, under military command in the Department of Indian Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense. Those who refused to transfer to the colony were captured by force in "raids" organized by the military commanders of the colony, with many victims of killings, mass arrests, forced displacement, etc. running a real ethnic cleansing of the new farming and cattle raising area with the transfer of the community to the National Guayaki Cologne.

Once in the Colony many were given to the colonists, practically as slave labor, especially in the case of men. Particularly painful was the case of the sale of many of these children to Paraguayan families, suppressing their identity, ending in most cases as domestic servants.Ache population declined rapidly. In pre-colonial times there were maybe 20,000 or 30,000 people. In the last census of 2012 they are just over 1,000 acculturated, discriminated and subjected to extreme poverty.