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THE PARAGUAY READER
HISTORY, CULTURE, POLITICS
DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 2013 Duke University Press
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8223-5268-6
Chapter One
The Birth of Paraguay
The first conquistadores to enter what is now Paraguay came in search of gold: Aleixo García traveled overland from the Atlantic coast of Brazil in 1524 en route to upper Peru in present-day Bolivia and, in 1528, Sebastian Cabot sailed up the River Paraguay as far as present-day Paraguay. False accounts of the mineral wealth of Paraguay arose because some local caciques possessed gold, which came from their intermittent trade with the Incas beyond the Chaco. The first expedition up the River Paraguay to establish settlements in Paraguay was consequently motivated by the mistaken belief that Paraguay was the famed El Dorado. On August 15, 1537, Asunción was founded by Juan de Salazar y Espinoza, and in 1541, when their initial settlement at Buenos Aires was abandoned in the face of attacks from hostile Pampa Indians, the Spaniards sought refuge in Asunción.
For the next fifty years the town became the headquarters of the Spanish conquest of the southern half of South America, as well as a strategic outpost for repelling Portuguese expansion westward by bandeirantes (marauding gangs in search of slaves) from Brazil. As the starting-off point for expeditions to create eight new settlements, Asunción became known as the madre de ciudades (mother of cities). When in 1549, the fruitless Chaco expedition of Domingo Martínez de Irala returned to Asunción with the news that upper Peru had been conquered from the Pacific, it became clear that Asunción would not be the gateway to the silver mines of Potosí or El Dorado. In 1617 a royal decree separated Buenos Aires from the province of Paraguay, after which Asunción declined in importance as the colonial administration was transferred to Buenos Aires. With no gold or silver mines to attract further immigration from Spain, and with no outlet to the sea, Paraguay became an economic backwater and remained isolated and weakly integrated into the world economy throughout the rest of the colonial period.
Henceforth, the indigenous peoples of Paraguay soon became the primary resource to be exploited by the relatively few conquistadores who remained in the province, especially after 1615, when growing attacks by bandeirantes forced the colonial authorities to divert human resources to the military defense of the province. From 1600 Indians were principally used for the production of yerba mate (Paraguayan tea), which soon became the major export throughout the colonial period. To this end, two radically different means of institutionalizing control over the indigenous peoples were employed, which ultimately came into conflict: that of the encomienda system of tribute in the form of forced labor, and that practiced by the Jesuit missions. The introduction of the encomienda system led to a radical change in the relationship between the Spanish and the indigenous people, as alliance and friendship were replaced by exploitation. The pacto de sangre that produced the predominantly mestizo population, which resulted from miscegenation between the Spanish and indigenous peoples, was achieved through rancheadas, the violent abduction of Indian women whom the conquistadores used as concubines, keeping as many as fifty each. There were eighteen major rebellions in opposition to the rancheadas and the encomienda, from the uprising of Jueves Santo in 1539 to the repression at Arecayá in 1660, generally led by spiritual leaders called the Ñande Ru, who sought a return to the precolonial integrity of Guaraní culture that had been shattered by the conquest.
In the early seventeenth century, foreign Jesuits began to evangelize the Guaranís of eastern Paraguay, many of whom had fled from the area around Asunción after the Spanish conquest. They established autocratic but self-sufficient economic units in thirty fortified settlements, called reducciones, which reached a population of over 200,000. Political tensions arose between the encomenderos (rural landowners) and the Jesuits over the appropriation of Guaraní labor for the production of yerba mate. This tension erupted in armed conflict in 1649–50 during the governorship of Bernardo de Cárdenas and more seriously, in the Comuneros rebellion (1721–35) led by the mestizo elite against what they saw as Spanish support for the privileges of the Jesuits. Although the leaders of the rebellion were executed, their objectives were eventually achieved in 1767, when the Jesuits were expelled from Paraguay and the rest of Latin America.
The seventeenth century was a period of territorial retrenchment and demographic stagnation for the province of Paraguay, and there was virtually no further European immigration during the century. Constant attacks by Chaco Indians and bandeirantes gradually whittled down the effective size of the colony, which by 1676, had been reduced to the area of the present-day metropolitan area of Asunción and the largely self-contained Jesuit missions in the southeast of the province.
The eighteenth century was a period of gradual territorial and demographic growth, assisted by the process of mestizaje (miscegenation) and the extinguishing of the encomienda system. With the introduction of cattle ranching, forestry and tobacco, the period also saw the gradual diversification of the provincial economy away from extreme dependence on yerba mate, and the beginnings of economic growth. In 1776, nominal control over Paraguay passed from Lima to the newly created Viceroyalty of the River Plate. The Bourbon Reforms introduced by King Carlos III had a significant impact on Paraguay, relaxing trade restrictions, and integrating Paraguay more closely into the regional economy of the River Plate. Foreign trade rose rapidly as commercial traffic on the River Paraguay increased substantially. This acceleration of economic activity encouraged the immigration of foreign merchants from the 1780s, who soon challenged the political and social hegemony of the traditional encomendero elite and gained a foothold in the Cabildo (municipal council) de Asunción, thereby contributing to the growing independence movement. After three centuries of external control and geographical isolation, a strong basis for a nationalist sentiment had been created in Paraguay, as the Spanish Empire began to collapse at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The Foundation of Human Speech
Transcribed by León Cadogan
Language is central to the indigenous culture of the Guaraní and is reflected in the strong oral tradition of contemporary Paraguay. This is exemplified by the following opening passage of the greatest text of Guaraní literature, the classic sacred chant and creation story of the Mbya-Guaraní, Ayvu Rapyta (The foundation of human speech). The story was first recorded and translated into Spanish in 1949 by Paraguay's foremost anthropologist, León Cadogan (1899–1973), the son of Australian colonists to the Nueva Australia socialist community. Cadogan grew up near Villarrica, speaking English and Guaraní, and dedicated his life to the study and defense of the rights of indigenous peoples. The text shows how the very identity of the Mbya-Guaraní depends on a shared language, a willingness to love each other, and adherence to a common religion. So important is language to identity that without a name, a human being ceases to be considered as such. We present Cadogan's own translation into English of the first two chapters of Ayvu Rapyta, which he undertook in 1966 for his cousin, Lillian Williams, in Australia. They are published here for the first time, along with the original notes.
Chapter One: The Habits of the Primeval Hummingbird
1 Our first father, the absolute one, Emerged amidst Primeval darkness.
2 He created the divine soles of his foot, The little round seat In the midst of primeval darkness, In the course of his evolution.
3 The mirror of his divine wisdom (organ of sight), The divine hear-it-all (organ of hearing), The divine palms of his hands and the wand (emblem of power), The divine palms of his hands with the flowering branches, Ñamanduï created them all in the course of his evolution, In the midst of primeval darkness.
4 The flowers which adorned the divine feather headdress Were dewdrops. Amidst the flowers of the divine headdress, The primeval bird fluttered, The hummingbird.
5 While our first father was creating, In the course of his evolution, His divine body, He lived amidst the primeval winds,
Before having conceived his future earthly abode, Before having conceived his future heavens His future earth Which first appeared The hummingbird refreshed his mouth: He who sustained Ñamanduï with products of paradise, Was the hummingbird.
6 Before our true father, the first one, Had created his first heaven, In the course of his evolution, He did not know darkness; Although the sun did not as yet exist, The reflection of the wisdom of his own heart Illuminated him, He caused the wisdom contained Within his own divinity To serve him as a sun.
7 The true father Ñamandu, the first one, Lived amidst the primeval winds. Wherever he stopped to rest, The owl produced a shadow, And thus caused foreknowledge of night To be perceived.
8 Before the true father Ñamandu, The first one, Had created his future paradise In the course of his evolution, Before he had created the first earth, He lived amidst the primeval winds.
The original wind amidst which Our father first lived is reached, Every time that the primeval time-space (winter) Is reached
As soon as the primeval time-space ends, Announced by the blossoming of the lapacho tree, The winds shift to the new time-space;
New winds arise, space-time is renewed,
And the resurrection of time-space Takes place (spring arrives).
Chapter Two: The Foundation of Human Speech
1 The true father Ñamandu, the first one, Out of a small portion of his own godliness, And out of the wisdom contained in his Own godliness, Caused flames and tenuous mist to Be begotten.
2 Having emerged in human form, Out of the wisdom contained in his own godliness, And by virtue of his creative wisdom He conceived the foundation of human speech. Out of the wisdom contained within his own godliness, And by virtue of his creative wisdom Our father created the foundation of human speech, And caused it to form part of his own godliness. Before the earth existed, In the midst of primeval darkness, Before there was knowledge of things, He created the foundation of future human speech, And the first true father Ñamandu Caused it to form part of his own divinity.
3 Having conceived the origin of future human speech, Out of the wisdom contained within his own godliness, And by virtue of his creative wisdom He conceived the foundation of love of one's fellow men. Before the earth existed, In the midst of primeval darkness, Before there was knowledge of things, And by virtue of his creative power He conceived the foundation of love of one's fellow men.
4 Having created the foundations of human speech, Having created a small portion of love, Out of the wisdom contained within his own godliness And by virtue of his creative wisdom He created, in his solitude, The beginning of a sacred hymn. Before the earth existed, In the midst of primeval darkness, Before there was knowledge of things He created, in his solitude, The beginning of a sacred hymn.
5 Having created, in his solitude, the origin of human speech; Having created, in his solitude, a small portion of love, Having created, in his solitude, a short sacred hymn, He pondered deeply About sharing the origin of human speech, About sharing the words of the sacred hymn, About sharing the love for one's fellow men. Having pondered deeply, Out of the wisdom contained within his own godliness, And by virtue of his own creative wisdom, He created those who could share his godliness.
6 Having pondered deeply, Out of the wisdom contained within his own divinity And by virtue of his creative power, He created the brave-hearted Ñamandu;6 He created him simultaneously with the reflection of his wisdom (the sun).
Before the earth existed, In the midst of primeval darkness, He created the brave-hearted Ñamandu. For the father of his future numerous sons, For the true father of the word-souls of his future numerous sons He created the brave-hearted Ñamandu.
7 Following these things, Out of the wisdom contained within his own divinity And by virtue of his own creating power, To the true father of the future Karaí, To the true father of the future Jakairá, To the true father of the future Tupá He granted knowledge of godliness.
8 Following these things, The true father Ñamandu To seat herself opposite his own heart, Imparted knowledge of godliness To the future true mother Ñamandu.
The true father Karaí Granted knowledge of godliness To whom would seat herself opposite his heart, To the true future mother Karaí.
The true father Jakairá, in the same manner, Imparted knowledge of godliness To the true mother Jakairá.
The true father Tupá, in the same manner, To whom would seat herself opposite his heart, Imparted knowledge of godliness, To the true future mother Tupá.
9 For having assimilated Divine knowledge from their own True father, After having assimilated Human speech, After having inspired in love Of one's fellowmen, After having assimilated the series of Words of the sacred hymn, After having inspired themselves In the foundation of creative wisdom; We call these, also, The sublime true fathers of The word-soul, The sublime true mothers of The word-soul.
Contact, Servitude, and Resistance
Branislava Susnik
Relations between the Spanish and the Guaraní evolved rapidly over the first fifty years of contact. Initially, relations were based on mutual benefit and cemented through kinship ties that for the Guaraní at least, were binding. Second came a series of Guaraní rebellions, provoked by perceptions of violation of kinship codes and the gradual demographic decline of Guaraní communities. Once these rebellions had been put down, relations based on kinship were replaced by violent coercion and owner-servant relations, leading to the great pan-Guaraní revolt of 1546, a final and unsuccessful effort to rid their lands of the Spanish. Only in 1551 was the colonial encomienda system imposed.
Branislava Susnik (1920–96), Paraguay's foremost anthropologist and the director of the Museo Etnográfico "Andrés Barbero," was one of the most important writers on the relationship between the Guaraní and the Spanish. Her studies dispel the myth of the peaceful encounter and coexistence of the two cultures and argue that while mutual benefit might have characterized initial relations, this state of affairs was soon replaced by the destruction of the Guaraní through both mestizaje and violent repression and persecution.
The First Hispano-Guaraní Contact
The Guaraní found themselves in an atmosphere of insecurity due to the permanent threat from the Guaicurú and the Payaguaes on the River Paraguay. In addition, interethnic relations were strained, with frequent struggles among the Guaraní themselves.
According to a census carried out by Irala, there were only about four hundred Spanish settlers before the arrival of Alvar Núñez de Cabeza, all of them male, with not a single female settler among them. The Guaraní witnessed the arrival of the four hundred Spanish men; they saw the horsemen, the arquebuses, and the metal, and to them everything seemed absolutely novel and magical. They accepted it because it was new but also because behind it they saw the power of magic.
This conceptualization of the arrival of the Spanish as magical is important and explains why the Guaraní immediately gave the first Spanish arrivals the name of karaí, which is derived from the name of karaíva, which the ancient Guaraní had called their traveling shamans.
We should bear in mind that for the Guaraní everything of value held a magical connotation and what was not magical held little value ... magic and not knowledge or understanding. For the Guaraní, knowledge was relative: anyone could acquire it; what was of greatest value was magic.
The Guaraní of the area north of the River Paraná heard of the arrival of the Spanish or karaí from the Chandules, the Guaraní of the islands along the River Paraná. The cacique of Arambaré (today a neighborhood of Asunción known as Lambaré) and other caciques of the area decided to block their advance.
Once they heard of the arrival of the Spanish, they held a war council and brought together warriors from across the area. However, the attempt to block the advance of the Spanish by the cacique of Arambaré was in fact a purely symbolic act, designed to await the arrival of the Spanish and see what kind of relations they would offer.
After a short and insignificant skirmish with the Spanish, the Guaraní caciques began negotiations with Ayolas, establishing what we can term a pact of interests. The Spanish needed the Guaraní; they had arrived after three months of traveling upriver from Buenos Aires to Asunción, passing through lands inhabited by nomadic hunters, with no crops of any kind, and suffering all kinds of hardship. They arrived in a region where they found crops under cultivation and immediately understood the importance of these as a secure provision of supplies. And even though the Spanish had not come to found Asunción but rather to build a settlement from whence they could continue their search for El Dorado, they immediately understood the importance of settling in a place that was populated by agrarian communities that could meet an important need for supplies.
(Continues...)
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