SOUTHERN INDIANS OF SOUTH AMERICA.
The whole interior of the southern portion of South America, from Terra del Fuego up to Paraguay, was long occupied by numerous savage tribes of Indians. Of these little was known till long after the occupation of portions of the country by the Spaniards. They soon obtained horses, and were divided by the Europeans into equestrian and pedestrian tribes. They were generally ferocious in their character, and engaged in almost perpetual wars with each other. The equestrian tribes, especially, were accustomed to make long excursions for the purpose of plunder or revenge. Many of these nations have since been swept off by that dreadful scourge of the Indian race, the small-pox, and many have been driven still farther back by the Europeans.
Our knowledge of their history, which is, indeed, but scanty, is derived from the accounts furnished by the Catholic missionaries, who labored long and with some degree of success among them.[3] The views they give of their manners and customs is often most interesting, and will be treated of in our sketch of the manners and customs of the American Indians. The vast plains, or pampas, as they are called, which lie southwest of Buenos Ayres, were inhabited by the equestrian savages, who, with the Araucanians, and other tribes which dwelt in the mountains, were termed by the Peruvians, Aucas, or rebels, probably from some event in their former history. It would seem, indeed, that several of the tribes originally came from the Northwest, and perhaps there gained the knowledge of horsemanship, in which they are so expert, from the earlier European invaders.
Similar groups of Indians were found through all that vast tract of land east of the Andes, and reaching up from Buenos Ayres to Brazil. Of these, perhaps, the most distinguished were the Abipones and Guaranies, who inhabited what formerly bore the name of Paraguay,—now Paraguay and Uruguay. Dobrizhoffer, a German Catholic priest, who resided many years among them, has given a full description of the most remarkable events of their history which occurred while he was with them, from which we extract a few scattered notices, adding some facts gathered from other sources.
Formerly these tribes seem to have been numerous, but now they are dwindled away to a small remnant. Some idea may be formed of their decrease, when it is stated that the Guaranies, who in 1752 numbered 141,252, lost 30,000 soon after by the small-pox, and afterwards, 11,000 more. In 1767, there were only about 100,000 left. They suffered great oppression from the Spaniards, and, though they fought bravely to avoid expulsion from their native land, they were finally driven out. Thirty thousand, it is said, were expelled by the Spaniards from seven towns.
The zealous missionaries penetrated the forests, and visited the most barbarous tribes. They were often unexpectedly received with kindness and hospitality, where they least had reason to hope for it. In one of these visits, when one of the missionaries, or fathers, went among them, and had gained their favor, the old cacique said that he had a daughter, the prettiest girl in the world, and was resolved to marry her to the father, that he might always stay in the family. On being informed that the fathers never married, the old man was thunderstruck, and, with his tobacco reed suspended in the air, he exclaimed, “What strange thing is this you tell me?”
The Indians watched, with great jealousy, the intrusion of the Spaniards on their territory. Some of them, on a certain occasion, having sent out men into the forest to gather maté, or Paraguay tea, by some misfortune their hut caught fire, and eighteen of them perished in the flames. The Indians beheld the conflagration at a distance; finally, one of them, armed with arrows and a club, stole into the only remaining Spanish hut, where a single man had taken refuge. “So,” said the savage, with a stern aspect, “you have dared to enter these woods which were never yours. Know you not this is our soil, left us by our fathers? Are you not content with having usurped immense tracts and innumerable woods, in spite of the opposition of our fathers? Should any one of us invade your domains, would he return alive? No; and we will imitate your example. If, then, you are wise, if life is dear to you, haste away, and advise your countrymen carefully to shun our woods, unless they would be the cause of their own death.” The Spaniard, to save his life, offered knives, axes, garments, and other trifles; pacified by these gifts, the savage returned to his comrades. The former, deeming any further stay perilous, ran off, leaving many thousand pounds of the maté which had been gathered.
The Guaycuras or Albayas were very expert horsemen, and were in the highest degree hostile to the Spaniards; they were brave, and exceedingly skilful in the use of their arms. The Calchaquis, also, were formerly famous for their military ferocity, and their irreconcilable enmity to the Europeans. A branch of the Guaranies were said to wander over the remote forests, on the banks of one of the rivers of the interior, and leap from tree to tree like monkeys, in search of honey and little birds. The Guaranies were noted for their voracity. After fasting a few hours, it is said that one of them would devour a young calf. These Indians were accustomed, before they lay down to sleep, to place a piece of meat before the fire, that it might be ready for them to eat immediately upon waking.
The havoc made by the Europeans among this tribe, as well as other Indians, especially those near Brazil, is almost incredible. It is supposed, that, in 130 years, 2,000,000 Indians were slain, or carried into captivity; and it is stated, that, in five years, 300,000 Paraguayans were carried off to Brazil; and that more than 1,000 leagues of country, extending as far as the River Amazon, were stripped of their inhabitants. In the years 1628-1630, 600,000 Indians were sold as slaves at Rio Janeiro. Upwards of 400 Indian towns were utterly destroyed, and such was the devastation, that King Joseph was obliged to make a decree, on the 6th of July, 1755, forbidding further ravages. This, however, is but a small part of the evils which the Spaniards and Portuguese inflicted on those unhappy regions.
Among the equestrian tribes, the horse was the great dependence of the Indians for various comforts. He supplied them with food, clothes, lodging, bed, arms, medicine, and thread. Of the hides they made their couch, clothing, boots, tents, saddles, and thongs which served for bridle and weapons. The sinews they used for thread. They drank melted horse-fat, washed their heads with the blood, and afterwards with water, to strengthen them; and twisted the hair into ropes. They were almost constantly on horseback, and their highest delight was to display their peculiar ability to manage the most spirited animals.
The Abipones, especially, were an extraordinary people, and almost realized in themselves the fabulous centaurs,—so completely did they seem identified with the horses they bestrode. No account of them is given in history before they settled in the province of Chaco in the sixteenth century. In the year 1641, they possessed horses, and had become formidable to the Spaniards, with whom they carried on long and bloody wars. They first obtained horses, it is said, by stealing them from Santa Fe, and in the space of fifty years they carried off 100,000 of these animals from the estates of the Spaniards. Sometimes not less than 4,000 were taken in a single assault. They settled on the territory formerly possessed by the Calchaquis, who had fallen victims to the small-pox. Here they formed alliances with other equestrian nations, especially the Mocobios and Tobos, savage tribes, formidable on account of their numbers and bravery. The confederates harassed the province of Asuncion for a long time, and also the colonies of St. Jago del Estero and Cordoba. Various expeditions were planned against them with various results; but still they continued their incursions for plunder or revenge. Many battles and heroic actions are narrated by Dobrizhoffer, who describes some of their caciques as men of uncommon bravery, and as having manifested great ability in leading their people to war.
The Abipones were divided into three classes, the Rickahes, who inhabited extensive plains, the Nakaigetergehes, who were fond of the lurking-places in the woods, and the Yaaucanigas, who were formerly a distinct nation, and used a separate language. The Spaniards almost destroyed them, and the few who survived fled to the Abipones, with whom they became incorporated. The Abipones, as also the other equestrian tribes of Chaco, boast themselves to be grandsons of the evil spirit. Their language and that of the Tobos and Mocobios, likewise equestrian Indians, is said to have a similarity that betrays a common origin; the same appears to be the case with that of the Guaranies and Chiriguanas, though 500 miles apart from each other.
Many fruitless efforts were for a long time made by the Jesuits to reduce the Abipones to submission to the king of Spain, and to convert them to the Catholic religion. But they prized their independence, and their own wild way of living, too much to be willing to renounce them for the benefits which were promised in agricultural pursuits. At last, however, a colony was founded for the Mocobios, the allies of the Abipones; finally, the latter were induced to follow their example, and colonies were likewise established among them. The first of these was founded for the Abipones Rickahes. All the tribes, however, did not readily come into the project. A portion of them preferred to remain as they were. This brought on long and bloody contests among them. Those who remained wild in the woods often attacked the colonies, and carried off their cattle and other plunder. The Jesuits were also exposed to no little danger in some of these invasions. The Spaniards joined the Abipones, and finally subdued the Charruas, a fierce equestrian nation, whom they instructed and converted. The Jesuits carried on their labors for a long time among the colonies, whither they had induced the Abipones to remove, and many instances of strong attachment towards them were exhibited by the caciques or chiefs, whom they had instructed and baptized. Their efforts, however, were terminated by the breaking out of a war between the Spaniards and the Guaranies, in which the Abipones finally became engaged. The result of this was to disperse them again from their settlements, and many of them relapsed from their more civilized habits into those of savage life.
It is a remarkable fact in the history of the Abipones, that they should have first learned the use of the horse from the Europeans, and afterwards have become so dexterous in its management. They still exist, it is said, in South America, but whether they are a distinct people, and addicted as before to their wild forest-life, or whether they have mingled with the nations which have sprung up from the Spanish settlements, and bear a Christian name, we have no means of determining. Some curious practices among them will be related hereafter, in describing the manners, customs, and antiquities of the Indian tribes of this part of South America.
A remarkable incident, respecting an Indian chief of a powerful tribe near Buenos Ayres, is related to have occurred in the year 1745. Orellana, as he is named in the account, with ten of his followers, having been taken captive by the Spaniards, was placed on board a Spanish ship of 66 guns and 500 men, and there treated with great cruelty. Finding means to communicate his plan to his men, they watched their time, and when a favorable opportunity occurred, they suddenly rose, armed with thongs of leather loaded with double-headed shot, prepared beforehand, and drove the Spaniards below. They then killed forty of them, and kept possession of the ship for two hours, in spite of all the efforts of the Spaniards to regain it; but Orellana being at last wounded by a random shot through the cabin doors, and seeing the Spaniards on the point of success, he, with his brave men, leaped overboard, and they were all drowned.
Of the several Indian tribes that inhabit that large tract of territory known by the name of Patagonia, and which terminates in the cold and desolate regions of Terra del Fuego, we can give no history. They are now, as when first discovered, mere savages, and have continued to occupy the soil with little disturbance from Europeans. Their country is too poor and repulsive to tempt the cupidity of civilized man, hence it has remained in the possession of its original masters. As they have no history worthy of remembrance, so they have no means of preserving the memory of events; and thus, like the leaves of the forest, they live, pass away, and then slumber in oblivion for ever. Their manners and customs alone are worthy of record, and these will be given in their proper place.
