Ayoreo

Ayoreo

Ayoreo Groups in Voluntary Isolation
Total population
5,600 (2013)
Regions with significant populations
Paraguay	2,600
Bolivia	3,000
Languages
Ayoreo language
Religion
Traditional religion, Christianity

The Ayoreo (Ayoreode, Ayoréo, Ayoréode) are an indigenous people of the Gran Chaco. They live in an area surrounded by the Paraguay, Pilcomayo, Parapetí, and Grande Rivers, spanning both Bolivia and Paraguay. There are approximately 5,600 Ayoreo people in total. Around 3,000 live in Bolivia, and 2,600 live in Paraguay. Traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers, the majority of the population was sedentarized by missionaries in the twentieth century. The few remaining uncontacted Ayoreo are threatened by deforestation and loss of territory.

The Ayoreo people are known by numerous names including Ayoré, Ayoreode, Guarañoca, Koroino, Moro, Morotoco, Poturero, Pyeta Yovai, Samococio, Sirákua, Takrat, Yanaigua and Zapocó. In the Ayoreo language, Ayoreo means “true people,” and Ayoreode means "human beings."

They speak the Ayoreo language, which is classified under Zamucoan, a small language family of Paraguay and Bolivia. A grammar and dictionary have been published for the language, and 20% of the Ayoreo are literate. Tsiracua is a dialect of Ayoreo.

The Ayoreo were first contacted when the Jesuits started the mission in the 1720s to convert the people to Catholicism. The mission was abandoned in the 1740s, and the Ayoreo were left alone until the 1900s. The Chaco War (1932-1935) between Bolivia and Paraguay brought 100,000 troops to their territory, as well as new diseases. Both countries viewed the Ayoreo as a problem, and from the 1940s until the 1970s the Paraguayan soldiers could be freed from service for killing an Ayoreo. Ayoreo children were stolen during this time, including a twelve-year-old named Iquebi who was taken to be put in an exhibit. In the 1940s the Santa Cruz-Corumba railroad was built in Ayoreo territory, making the territory and people easier to access.