Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
region of the Zamucos” into Chiquitanía and the Bolivian nation. Ayoroa
followed “the old Jesuit road” straight to the base of Cerro San Miguel. He
and his men worked for several months opening the road and construct-
ing a number of forts near water sources found along the way, including
San Ramon, Ravelo, and Ingavi. Their route passed directly through the
center of the lands controlled and favored by Ayoreo-speaking people,
pivoting near the base of Gososo or Cerro San Miguel, twenty-five kilo-
meters to the east of Echoi, continuing south past Nakaje, or Palmar de
las Islas, and terminating to the west of Cucaani, or Cerro León.
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This route became one of the main transport roads for troops and sup-
plies in the Chaco War. Between 1932 and 1935, more than one hundred
thousand soldiers, most of them Quechua and Aymara Indians from the
Bolivian highlands, moved through these roads in the northern Chaco,
along with military transport trucks and airplanes sent by German firms
for field testing prior to World War II. More of these soldiers died from
thirst and exposure than combat. Warplanes regularly flew over the vil-
lages of Ayoreo-speaking peoples.
The invasion of Ayoreoland only increased when the war straggled
to a close in 1935. The peace treaty that ended the Chaco War included
a provision that enabled Bolivia to access the sea via the Rio Paraguay,
essential for shipping hydrocarbons. Because of that agreement, con-
struction on the Santa Cruz-Corumba railroad began in 1945 and was
completed ten years later. It was laid west to east across the paths to
Echoi, effectively sealing the Direquednejnaigosode and many other
groups from their southern territory, as well as facilitating the efforts of
those eager to track down and enslave Ayoreo-speaking people. Further-
more, the highway and the railroad opened the area for intensive culti-
vation and permanent settlement. In accordance with the 1943 Bohan
Plan, the railroad was seen to be an ideal route to promote the coloniza-
tion of lowland Bolivia by highlanders, and colonies of domestic and for-
eign immigrants were quickly established along the tracks. The railroad
also played a crucial role in efforts by missionaries to follow and contact
northern Ayoreo-speaking groups.
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In the southern Ayoreo territories, the road from the Menno-
nite colonies north to Madrejon separated the regions known in
Ayoreo as Ñacore'Abode from those of Tamocode, Amotocodie, and
Chungupere'nate. The Totobiegosode called this road Dajei'date or the
“mother road.” They say this road “cut our land into parts,
yocuneone
ahuguto.”
In Bolivia, the road south from Roboré established permanent
Cojñone
settlements near Echoi, Nakaje, and Cucaani. This road skirted
