The tower of Babel. Chapter 4: Surviving the end of the world

The indigenous communities of Paraguay experienced their own particular end of the world during the Chaco War. The Bolivian and Paraguayan armies fought this territorial war on the traditional lands of ethnic groups such as the Ayoreo, the Maká, the Nivaclé, and the Lengua. Since that time, these cultures have tried to survive outside their traditional territories and in truly precarious living conditions.

To the south, near the Brazilian border, the lumber industry cut down the forests and cornered a group of Aché natives, who 30 years ago suffered the traumatic experience of confronting the white man. Fortunately, they survived, but ever since then they have been struggling to integrate into a society that doesn’t want them.

In Bahia Negra, near the Paraguay River, a tribe of Ishir Indians has taken the opposite path. After suffering the tyranny of an unscrupulous group of Evangelists for many years, they decided to expel them and return to their old way of life.

In this episode of The Tower of Babel we will travel throughout Paraguay to get to know the numerous indigenous cultures that are trying to form part of Paraguayan society without renouncing their cultural heritage.