The Charrúa are an Indigenous people or Indigenous Nation of the Southern Cone in present-day Uruguay and the adjacent areas in Argentina ( Entre Ríos ) and Brazil ( Rio Grande do Sul ). They were a semi-nomadic people who sustained themselves mainly through hunting and gathering. Since resources were not permanent in every region, they would constantly be on the move. Rain, drought, and other environmental factors determined their movement. For this reason they are often classified as seasonal nomads.
26-519: Arachán were one of the native nations of Uruguay . Their origin is not very well-known, but some scholars consider them to be different from other local ethnicities. They were said to have come from the Inca Highlands (currently Bolivia and Peru ) thousands of years ago. Their name is composed of two elements: "eastern", "oriental" ( Guarani : ara ) + " Canna " ( Quechua : achuy ), as they used to cultivate Cannaceae as staple food. Nowadays
52-467: A good relationship with the Charrúas, the increasing dominance of the white people and desires for expansion led to hostilities. He therefore organized a genocide campaign known as La Campaña de Salsipuedes in 1831. This campaign was composed of three different attacks in three different places: "El Paso del Sauce del Queguay", "El Salsipuedes", and a passage known as "La Cueva del Tigre". Legend has it that
78-454: A local culture developed in nowadays northern Uruguay, known as Hombre del Catalanense . Afterwards, in pre-colonial times, Uruguayan territory was inhabited by small tribes of nomadic Charrúa, Chana, Arachan and Guarani peoples. They were semi-nomadic people who survived by hunting, fishing and gathering and probably never numbered more than 10,000 – 20,000 people. It is estimated that there were about 9,000 Charrúa and 6,000 Chaná and Guaraní at
104-577: Is believed that there are approximately between 160,000 and 300,000 individuals in Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil today who are descendants of surviving Charrúa. Contemporary descendants of the Charrúa have created organizations and advocate for the memory of the indigenous people. The life of the Charrúas before contact with the Spanish Colonists remains to a large extent a mystery since most knowledge about
130-519: Is currently emerging about their oral history, contemporary ethnogenesis and activism. It is believed that there are approximately between 160,000 and 300,000 individuals in Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil today who are descendants of surviving Charrúa. On November 9, 2007 the Câmara dos Vereadores of Porto Alegre held a Solemn Act to recognize the Charruas as an existing native Brazilian people. The event
156-528: Is said that since 11 April 1831, when the Salsipuedes (meaning "Get-out-if-you-can") campaign was launched by a group led by Bernabé Rivera , nephew of Fructuoso Rivera, the Charrúas were then officially claimed to be extinct. Four surviving Charrúas were captured at Salsipuedes. The directory of the Oriental School of Montevideo thought a nearly extinct race would spark the interest of French scientists and
182-674: The Paraná River and lower Paraguay River , the Misiones Province of Argentina, southern Brazil once as far east as Rio de Janeiro, and parts of Uruguay and Bolivia. Charr%C3%BAa The Charrúa people were massacred in a campaign in 1831 by the colonial forces in Uruguay known as the Massacre of Salsipuedes . Though largely erased from modern histories, some communities of the Charrúa survived outside of Uruguay in Argentina and Brazil. It
208-670: The 1830s and, with the exception of the Guaraní , little is known about these peoples and even less about their genetic characteristics. The Charrúa peoples were perhaps the best-known indigenous people of the Southern Cone in what was called the Banda Oriental . Other significant tribes were the Minuane , Yaro , Güenoa , Chaná , Bohán and Guaraní , and the Arachán . Languages once spoken in
234-474: The Chana, strongly resisted the territorial invasion. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Charrúa were confronted by cattle exploitation that strongly altered their way of life, causing famine and forcing them to rely on cows and sheep. However, these were in that epoch increasingly privatized . Malones (raids) were resisted by settlers who freely shot any indigenous people who were in their way. Charrúas would move to
260-563: The Charrúa people was a gradual process that took more than 200 years, and the root cause was territorial occupation by Europeans”. The Charrúa are an Indigenous people or Indigenous Nation of the Southern Cone in present-day Uruguay and the adjacent areas in Argentina ( Entre Ríos ) and Brazil ( Rio Grande do Sul ). They were a semi-nomadic people who sustained themselves mainly through hunting and gathering. Since resources were not permanent in every region, they would constantly be on
286-659: The Charrúas comes from Spanish contact with them. Chroniclers such as the Jesuit Pedro Lozano accused the Charrúan people of killing the Spanish explorer Juan Díaz de Solís during his 1515 voyage up the Río de la Plata . This was a crucial moment since it shows that the Charrúas were prepared to resist the Spanish invaders. Following the arrival of European settlers, the Charrúa, along with
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#1733084640824312-505: The Massacre of Salsipuedes, where most of the Charrúa men were killed by the Uruguayan army on the orders of President Fructuoso Rivera . The remaining 300 Charrua women and children were divided as household slaves and servants among Europeans. By 1840 there were only 18 surviving Charrua in Uruguay. According to the history professor and journalist Lincoln Maiztegui Casas, “the disappearance of
338-551: The area include Charrúa , Chaná , Güenoa , and Guaraní . A 2005 genetic study showed 38% of Uruguayans had some indigenous ancestry. In the 2011 Census, 4.9% of the population reported having indigenous ancestry. A 2004 DNA study in the American Journal of Human Biology suggested that the Native American contribution to Uruguay's genetic composition may be far higher than is commonly assumed. Thousands of years ago,
364-409: The city of Porto Alegre would grant Aldeia Polidoro (a 9- ha area) the status of municipal indigenous territory. Uruguayans refer to themselves as " charrúa " when in the context of a competition or battle against a foreign contingent. In situations in which Uruguayans display bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, the expression " garra charrúa " (charrúan tenacity) is used to refer to victory in
390-435: The first attack was a betrayal. Rivera knew the tribal leaders and called them to his barracks by the river, later named "Salsipuedes". He claimed that he needed their help to defend territory and that they should join him, however, once the Charrúas were drunk and off their guard, the Uruguayan soldiers attacked them. The following two attacks were carried out to eliminate the Charrúas that had escaped or had not been present. It
416-583: The first female cacique of the Charruas, was the subject of the documentary Perambulantes (Brazil, 2009), by Giancarla Brunnetto e Karine Emerich. Acuab, cacique of Aldeia Polidoro, is credited with going to Brasilia and handing over to then- President Lula a document that asked for the recognition of her people by Fundação National do Índio . Acuab reached the President after evading his security detail . This recognition would come in September, 2007. By 2008
442-501: The move. Rain, drought, and other environmental factors determined their movement. For this reason they are often classified as seasonal nomads. The Guarani are a group of culturally-related indigenous peoples of South America . They are distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guarani language . The traditional range of the Guarani people is in what is now Paraguay between
468-596: The people of Cerro Largo Department are sometimes known as "arachanes", in memory of this extinct local ethnicity. There is also a small seaside resort in Rocha Department known as Arachania . The rivuline Austrolebias arachan was named after them as well. This article about the history of Uruguay is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Indigenous peoples in Uruguay Indigenous peoples in Uruguay or Native Uruguayans , are
494-436: The peoples who have historically lived in the modern state of Uruguay . Because of genocidal colonial practices, disease and active exclusion, only a very small share of the population is aware of the country's indigenous history or has known indigenous ancestry. Scholars disagree agree about the first settlers in what is now Uruguay, but there is evidence of human presence from 10,000 BCE. Indigenous Uruguayans disappeared in
520-562: The province of Entre Ríos, Argentina . Following the end of Uruguay's last dictatorship in 1985, a group of people has been affirming and vindicating their Charrúan ancestry. In August 1989, the Association of Descendants of the Charrúa Nation (ADENCH, Asociación de Descendientes de la Nación Charrúa) was created to rescue, conserve, and promulgate the knowledge and presence of indigenous peoples in Uruguay. In 2005, another organisation
546-450: The public. They were Senacua Sénaqué, a medicine man ; Vaimaca-Pirú Sira, a warrior ; and a young couple, Laureano Tacuavé Martínez and María Micaëla Guyunusa . All four were taken to Paris in 1833, where they were exhibited to the public. The display was not a success and they all soon died in France, including a baby daughter born to Sira and Guyunusa, and adopted by Tacuavé. The child
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#1733084640824572-409: The shore in summer to fish and gather clams, fruits, and roots and moved inland in winter to hunt deer, rheas, and smaller game with bolas (stones connected by short ropes that are thrown to ensnare prey) and bows and arrows. The drastic demographic reduction of the Charrúas did not occur until the administration of the first president of Uruguay, Fructuoso Rivera . Although Rivera initially maintained
598-434: The time of contact with the Spanish in the 1500s. By the time of independence, some 300 years later, there were only about 500 native people remaining in Uruguay. The decline in the native population was due to disease, intermarriage, and persecution. With little immunity to diseases brought by European settlers, native peoples and culture were gradually diminished. The genocide of the Charrúa culminated on April 11, 1831 with
624-488: Was formed, the Council of the Charrúa Nation (CONACHA, Consejo de la Nación Charrúa) – where families came out of clandestinity and publicly self-recognized themselves as Charrúa. Not much is known about the Charrúa due to their cognitive erasure at an early time in Uruguayan history. The only surviving documents that concern the Charrúa are those of Spanish explorers, archaeologists, and anthropologists. A new body of literature
650-717: Was jointly organized by the Human Rights Commission of the Câmara dos Vereadores of Porto Alegre and the Human Rights Commission of the National Congress of Brazil . During the Act, Senators Paulo Paim and Sérgio Zambiasi congratulated the indigenous people for their "conquest and effort in a struggle that has lasted 172 years". The life of cacica -geral Acuab, the most notable Charrua chief of Rio Grande do Sul and
676-609: Was named María Mónica Micaëla Igualdad Libertad by the Charrúa, yet she was filed by the French as Caroliné Tacouavé. A monumental sculpture, Los Últimos Charrúas was built in their memory in Montevideo , Uruguay. After Salsipuedes, the Charrúa were gradually dispossessed of their sovereignty while the new state was affirming its jurisdiction over the whole territory. According to the Argentine census of 2001, there were 676 Charrúas living in
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