Not the least remarkable point in their history is the manner in which they have preserved the freedom of their own land, despite the attacks of various white nations. Both the Spaniards and the Portuguese have, at different times, seized on a few positions in the Gran Chaco, but have not been able to retain them except on the indefinite western frontier line. On the east, where the great Paraguay River forms the natural boundary, the native is left unmolested in his freedom.
In the eloquent words of Captain Mayne Reid: “On its eastern side, coinciding almost with a meridian of longitude, the Indian of the Gran Chaco does not roam; the well-settled provinces of Corrientes, and the dictatorial government of Paraguay, presenting a firmer front of resistance. But neither does the colonist of these countries think of crossing to the western bank of the boundary river to form an establishment there.
“He dares not even set his foot upon the Chaco. For a thousand miles, up and down, the two races, European and American, hold the opposite banks of this great stream. They gaze across at each other—the one from the portico of his-well-built mansion, or perhaps from the street of his town—the other standing by his humble ‘toldo,’ or mat-covered tent, more probably on the back of his half-wild horse, reined up for a moment on some projecting promontory that commands a view of the river. And thus have these two races gazed at each other for three centuries, with little other intercourse passing between them than that of a deadly hostility.”
As the territory of the Gran Chaco is very extensive, being about three times as large as that of Great Britain, and extends north and south through eleven degrees of latitude, it naturally follows that the tribes which inhabit it differ from each other in many details, those of the warm north and cold south being in many points strongly contrasted with each other. Still, there are many points of similarity, and these we will select in the following brief account of the Gran Chaco tribe, omitting, from want of space, those wherein they differ from each other.
In the first place, the aborigines of the Gran Chaco are of a much paler complexion than those of the more northern tribes, known from their color by the name of Red Men, and more nearly resemble the rich olive of the inhabitants of Southern Europe. The nose is rather aquiline, the mouth well formed, the cheek-bones high, and the eyes and hair jetty black. The latter is singularly abundant, and though coarse and without curl is smooth and glossy when properly dressed.
The men have but little beard, and the scanty hairs which grow upon the chin and face they completely eradicate, using for that purpose a pair of shells until they are rich enough to purchase iron tweezers. Even the eyebrows and lashes are pulled out, the natives saying that they only hinder the sight, and comparing those who wear them to the ostrich—i. e. the rhea, or American ostrich, which is plentiful in their country.
To an European, the loss of these appendages to the eyes has a very unsightly effect; but the native takes a very different view of the case, and looks upon a countenance wherein the eyebrows and lashes are permitted to grow much as a gentleman of George the Second’s time would have regarded a head which was decorated by its own hair, and a face from which the beard and moustache had not been removed.
The masculine mode of dressing the hair has some resemblance to that which is practised by the warlike tribes of Northern America. The hair is shaved from the forehead, as well as from a band extending behind the head from one ear to the other. The remainder is allowed to grow to its full length, and carefully cherished and tended.
The Gran Chaco Indians only use paint upon great occasions, when they decorate themselves as fantastically as any savage tribe can do; but, as a rule, their faces and bodies are allowed to retain their normal olive hue. Neither do the men use the tattoo, this being restricted to the women, who mark themselves with a variety of patterns upon their arms, cheeks, and breasts, each having a line of blue dots extending from the corner of each eye to the ears, and a pattern of some kind upon her forehead.
The dress of these people is very simple. In warm and fine weather, it consists merely of a piece of cotton or woollen fabric, woven in the brightest hues of red, white, and blue. It is little more than a mere strip of cloth, and in this respect the dress of the women scarcely differs from that of the men. In cold and stormy weather, both sexes wear a warm cloak made of the skin of the jaguar, or, if so valuable a material cannot be obtained, of that of the nutria, or South American otter. Earrings are worn by both sexes; but the hideous ornaments which so many savage tribes wear in their lips and noses are utterly unknown to them.