Two important American Indian groups in South America are the Quechuas and the Guaraníes, and, in my two and a half years in South America, I’ve had the pleasure of having quite a bit of contact with representatives of both groups.  Other Indian groups here include Aymaras, Tupíes and Mapuches, but so far I haven’t met many of these people.

The Quechuas are the descendants of what we call the Inca Indians, but the word ‘Inca’ is a misnomer as an ethnonym.  These Indians have always been the Quechuas.  ‘Quechua’ is merely the Hispanized version of the native name, which is ‘Kichwa’.  I first heard this pronunciation and explanation from a Quechua lady whom I met in Rumichaca, on the Ecuador-Colombia frontier in 2004.  The word ‘Indian’ is also a misnomer, of course.

The Quechuas live in southern Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina, which is roughly equivalent to the former Inca Empire.  Their language is also called Quechua, but I have not seen any printed matter to date. 

Cusco and Machu Picchu are full of Quechuas, and if you sit in the town plaza in Cusco, you will be accosted again and again by Quechua vendors, usually ladies, selling woven goods, jewelry, coca leaves and other products.  They are generally very tenacious, and their obvious poverty does evoke sympathy.  At nearby Saqsayhuamán Fortress, I met several Quechua ladies with llamas and alpacas.  Some had adorable little children too.  These ladies are all very helpless and inane, and usually not very beautiful, but I love them anyway.

In January, I visited Jujuy, Argentina’s northwesternmost province, and one of the few Argentine provinces that has a sizable Indian population.  These too are largely Quechuas, with an admixture of other tribes.  In fact, the Jujuyes themselves are a local tribe.  I visited the scenic villages of Purmamarca, Humahuaca and Tilcara.  These villages were for all the world exact duplicates of pueblos in New Mexico, like Taos, Bernalillo and Acoma.  I was elated to hear a local group sing ¡Viva Jujuy!, an Argentine folksong that I have known for years. 

In the city of Jujuy, around the terminal, dozens of Quechua ladies were sitting on the sidewalk with legs spread-eagled, as Indian women everywhere sit, selling produce and other goods.  From what I could see, however, in Santiago, Chile and Lima, Perú Indians are not very visible as a distinct ethnic group.  They seem just to blend in with the general population.

The Guaraníes are the predominant ethnic group of Paraguay, where I spent nine months in two visits.  They live also in Uruguay, southern Brazil, and northeastern Argentina.  According to statistics I have seen, about 90% of Paraguayans speak Guaraní, including some who don’t speak Spanish, the national language, at all.  But in Asunción, the capital, all I heard and saw was Spanish.  Many place names and other words in use in Paraguay are obviously from Guaraní.  In fact, the monetary unit as well as a local fruit are also called guaraní.  Then there are words like Paraguay, Uruguay, Iguazú, Curupayty, mburucuyá, ñandú, ñandutí, mandioca, capybara and jaguar, all from the Guaraní language, which is called Avañe’ë.  Some books in Avañe’ë are available in bookstores.

I had several little Guaraní girlfriends, aged 4 to 9, poor little waifs, orphaned or half-orphaned, who ran the streets of Asunción.  I used to give them money and buy them presents.  How I wish I were still there today to do the same thing!  I loved seeing them every day.  I met the mothers of some of the little girls too, helpless women who vended odds and ends on the street.

A few months after I left Paraguay, I travelled to Puerto Iguazú, in the Argentine province of Misiones, to see Iguazú Falls.   There I was surprised to see Guaraní ladies and children, just like my friends from Asunción.  It was almost like a reunion. 

In most of Argentina, American Indians are few in number and cut a low profile.  The Mapuche Indians, once known as the Araucanians, are just a remnant in Patagonia, in the south of the country.  Wikipedia claims that Mapuches number 900,000.   If that is true, most of them must be in Chile. 

Only about 1% of Brazil’s population consists of Indians.  These are probably Tupíes (Tupis in Portuguese), but so far, I haven’t met any.  Maybe on my upcoming return to Brazil, I’ll have the good fortune to meet a few.

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