New Delhi: Several tribes in the world prefer to live in isolation, and the Ayoreo is one of them. Even though they like to live in seclusion, many of them were forcefully driven out of their natural habitat, endangering their culture and heritage. In this article, we will learn more about this tribe.
Who is Ayoreo?
The Ayoreo are an indigenous people of the Gran Chaco who live in a territory that spans both Paraguay and Bolivia and their number at present is around 5,600. Out of them, Bolivia houses around 3,000 people while the rest of them live in Paraguay. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers but in the 20th century, the missionaries sedentarized most of them.
During the second half of the 20th century, the majority of the Ayoreo were forced to move out of their traditional settlements in the forest and live in small settlements in the mainstream society. To survive, they became sedentary to survive. It began in the early 18th century when the Jesuits established the San Ignacio de Zamucos mission with several local Ayoreo groups. In 1745, it was by an uprising and the Ayoreo lived in peace for the next 100 years.
But in the first half of the 20th century, people in oil companies came into contact with them in the Paraguayan Chaco and a systematic search and contact process to find the Ayoreo began in the 1960s. They were deported and missionary settlements became their residence. In 2004, the last case of contact and sedentarization of isolated groups in Paraguay took place.
Today, around 150 members of the Ayoreo tribe prefer to live in voluntary isolation in the Chaco region which is in the border between Paraguay and Bolivia. The signs of their presence can be seen in marks on trees, the tools they use, the huts where they live and abandoned objects. Their survival is under immense threat due to the rapid deforestation which has increased especially in the 21st century. Trees are being cut to construct roads, forests are being cleared for farm and cattle ranching frontier. Along with it, the devastating megafires have proved to be a massive threat to their existence. Both Bolivia and Paraguay viewed the tribe as a problem and did little to save them from exploitation in the 20th century, and during the Chaco War, 100,000 troops of the nations went to their territory and also brought new diseases. Today, the remaining members of the Ayoreo tribe living in isolation are staring at the total non-existence of their old culture and heritage.
During the second half of the 20th century, the majority of the Ayoreo were forced to move out of their traditional settlements in the forest and live in small settlements in the mainstream society. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
