Abipón people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Considered extinct as a people | |
| Languages | |
| Abipón (Callaga) | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional tribal religion |
The Abipones (Spanish: Abipones, singular Abipón) were an indigenous peoples of Argentina's Gran Chaco, users of one of the Guaicuruan languages. They ceased to exist as an independent ethnic group in the early 19th century. A small number of survivors assimilated into Argentine society.
The Abipones originally occupied the Gran Chaco of Argentina, in the lower portions of the Bermejo River. They were originally a seasonally mobile people of hunters, gatherers, fishers and to a limited extent farmers.
In 1641 the Abipones had already obtained the horse from the Spanish settlers and abandoned farming for cattle and horse raiding. By that time they still lived north of the Bermejo River They became feared by their neighbours and the Spanish farmers, and even threatened major cities.
It is likely they were driven south of their original range by the Spaniards and other native tribes, such as the Tobas. They were finally concentrated in the Argentinian territory lying between Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero, between the Rio Bermejo on the north and the Salado River on the south.
Before the introduction of the horse in the region, they subsisted by hunting, fishing, food gathering and only a limited amount of agriculture. With the horse, came a change in the regional and in particular the Abipon's way of surviving. They shifted away from agriculture and towards hunting from horseback, wild cattle, rhea, guanaco, deer, and peccary. The horses also lead them to raid the Spanish ranches and even the cities of Asuncion and Corrientes.
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Wikipedia