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43-676: 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 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

86-451: A human zoo . On 20 September, Guyunusa gave birth to a girl biologically fathered by Sira: initially given the name María Mónica Micaëla Igualdad Libertad, her French birth certificate lists her name as Caroliné Tacouavé. Sénaqué, Sira and Guyunusa all died within the first year of their arrival, with Guyunusa's widower Tacuavé adopting the infant girl as his own. She died the following year, surmised by historian Darío Arce Asenjo to be from

129-529: A cohesive community with an identity, territory and common historical memory. The Charrúa language is today considered extinct; although the massacre is commonly thought of as having led to their complete destruction, several Charrúa communities did survive in neighbouring Argentina and Brazil after the massacre, with official numbers estimating their descendants to number between 160,000 and 300,000 in Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Among them, many of them have publicly promoted and reclaimed their Charrúa identity:

172-470: 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

215-487: A riverbank of what is today known as the Great Salsipuedes Creek . As a cover story, Rivera had told the chiefs that the army was in need of their help to protect the border region. When the Charrúa arrived by the hundreds on 11 April 1831, one of the army generals furthered the ruse by releasing his horses as a gesture of good faith, and the chiefs reciprocated by releasing most of their horses as well. As

258-539: Is an umbrella organization, conceived to rescue, preserve and disseminate the identity and culture of the descendants of the Charrúa native indians, as well as to contribute to the construction of the national identity and to vindicate indigenous ancestors. It comprises several groups, among others: Basquadé Inchalá, Grupo Sepé, Guyunusa, Grupo Berá, Grupo Pirí. Another organization, the Association of Descendants of

301-527: 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

344-541: 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

387-500: Is unknown if he left any descendants. The sculpture Los Últimos Charrúas ("The Final Charrúans") was erected in their memory in Montevideo , Uruguay. Regardless of the survivors' ultimate fates, it has been argued by historian Diego Bracco that the massacre represented the death blow to the indigenous nations of Uruguay at the time; to him, the massacre marked the disappearance of the Charrúa from public memory and their end as

430-655: The Asociación de Descendientes de la Nación Charrúa (ADENCH, English: Association of the Descendants of the Charrúa Nation ) was founded in August 1989 to conserve and promote the history, knowledge and culture of the Charrúa, and the organisation Consejo de la Nación Charrúa (CONACHA, English: Council of the Charrúa Nation ) was founded in 2005 by 10 communities and organisations to advocate for

473-546: The Queguay Grande River and the "La cueva del Tigre" passage respectively, in order to track down and eliminate the Charrúa that had either escaped or not been present. On 17 August, Bernabé Rivera's army ambushed a group of Charrúa in Mataojo led by the chiefs El Adivino and Juan Pedro, of which 15 were killed and 80 were taken prisoner; 18 Charrúa, including the chief Polidoro, managed to escape. On 17 June of

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516-775: 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 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

559-582: The British, Spanish and Portuguese colonial forces as part of their struggle for dominance over the La Plata Basin . Following decades of fierce fighting between the Charrúa and the Spanish colonists, a peace treaty was signed on 22 March 1732 where the Charrúa, in exchange for recognising Spanish laws, had their laws and sovereignty recognised by the Spanish in kind. By the of the Treaty of Montevideo ,

602-407: The Charrúa are today believed to number between 160,000 and 300,000 across Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina , the massacre decimated their communities and erased them from Uruguayan public memory; for this reason, it is popularly thought of as the event that exterminated the Charrúa as a people. At the time of first contact with Europeans in the 16th century, the Charrúa were the predominant people in

645-479: The Charrúa during his military campaigns. According to historian Lincoln Maiztegui Casas , "The disappearance of the Charrúa was a gradual process that took more than 200 years and was generated from the occupation of the territory by Europeans". Through a combination of land theft and colonization, their lack of amenability to assimilation, affliction by disease, and the disruption of their nomadic way of life, their fortunes were severely affected. with few holding on to

688-680: 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 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

731-442: The Charrúa way of life by the early 19th century. The remaining that did, however, were steadfastly committed and continued to move freely throughout northern Uruguay as in pre-colonial times, in spite of their increasingly violent encounters with encroaching white settlers. Because of this, the authorities increasingly saw them as an insurmountable "obstacle" to establishing what they saw as an organised society; as their way of life

774-511: 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

817-491: The Spanish and Portuguese-Brazilian empires. Some indigenous soldiers, like the Guarani Andrés Guazurary , even reached the rank of caudillo and led vital battles to secure what is today Uruguay's northeastern border. In the years leading up to Salsipuedes, however, indigenous peoples' place in Uruguay had been put into question: although they were instrumental in securing the country's independence,

860-407: 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

903-400: The command of Bernabé Rivera, President Rivera's nephew. According to official historiography, 40 people were killed and 300 were taken prisoner, with a number of Charrúa managing to escape; among the soldiers, 9 were wounded and 1 was killed. The survivors were forcibly marched 260 km to Montevideo , where they were sold into slavery. The massacre was followed by two other attacks by

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946-562: The face of certain defeat. Massacre of Salsipuedes The Massacre of Salsipuedes ( Spanish : Masacre de Salsipuedes ), also known as the Slaughter of Salsipuedes ( Spanish : Matanza de Salsipuedes ), was a genocidal attack carried out on 11 April 1831 by the Uruguayan Army , led by Fructuoso Rivera , as the culmination of the state's efforts to eradicate the Charrúa from Uruguay . The massacre took place on

989-492: 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

1032-591: 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

1075-548: The following year, a failed ambush at the Yacaré Cururú Creek resulted in Bernabé Rivera, along with 2 officers and 9 soldiers, being killed by a group of Charrúa that had survived the previous attacks. Hearing of the Charrúan prisoners being put up for sale, the director of the Oriental School of Montevideo thought that the story of a nearly extinct people would spark the interest of French scientists and

1118-592: The influence of the Jesuit missions ) through their adoption of a sedentary way of life and progressive assimilation into the Mestizo communities. The Charrúa, however, were not so amenable to assimilation and were under severe pressure; in addition to the pressures of assimilation, they were harmed even further by ferocious conflict with the state and other indigenous forces alike, with Guazurary (considered by Artigas to be his indigenous political heir) clashing fiercely with

1161-528: The lands between the Paraná and Uruguay River , with smaller populations of Chaná and Guarani peoples residing in the area as well; conflicts with Europeans spurred their movement to the Banda Oriental , which contains the modern-day territory of Uruguay. The Charrúa predominated particularly in the north of the region (today split between Uruguay and Brazil) and lived semi-nomadically; their migration

1204-406: The meeting progressed, the Charrúa became increasingly drunk and off their guard; the details of the subsequent events are uncertain and subject to dispute. According to Eduardo Acevedo Díaz , the signal to trigger the attack came when Rivera asked for Chief Venado's knife in order to chop tobacco, whereupon Venado was shot dead. In any case, the Charrúa were suddenly surrounded by 1200 soldiers under

1247-600: The nascent Mestizaje argued that maintaining the indigenous peoples' way of life was no longer necessary for the organisation of the state, with some arguing from a Marxist perspective that occupying their lands in Northern Uruguay was necessary to uplift the social class they embodied. Artigas and Rivera looked positively upon the Guarani and preferred to maintain peace with them, as they had become compatible with their view of an independent Uruguayan society (from

1290-654: The nascent Uruguayan state had established an uncertain but effective relationship with its indigenous subjects. The Thirty-Three Orientals enjoyed fervent support among the Charrúa, who saw them as bulwarks against the Brazilian Empire that had previously displaced them. Many Charrúa (including one of the survivors sent to France) served alongside the Chaná and Guarani in José Gervasio Artigas ' forces during Uruguay's struggle for independence against

1333-451: 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

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1376-619: The public. Thusly, French ex-general François Curel agreed to purchase four Charrúa to be exhibited in Paris: medicine man Senacua Sénaqué, warrior Vaimaca-Pirú Sira (who had previously served under Artigas), and the young couple Laureano Tacuavé Martínez and María Micaela Guyunusa ; Guyunusa was pregnant at the time. The four Charrúa disembarked with Curel on 25 February 1833, arriving in Saint-Malo on 7 May of that year before being transported to Paris, where they were exhibited as part of

1419-503: 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 was named María Mónica Micaëla Igualdad Libertad by

1462-501: The recognition and self-identification of Uruguayan indigenous peoples. In present-day Uruguay, the name of the Charrúa has acquired mythical connotations of strength, valor, pride and victory in war, especially in a sporting context. The phrase garra charrúa ("Charrúa claw/Charrúa strength") became associated with the Uruguayan national football team following their victory in the 1935 South American Championship , referring to

1505-490: The riverbanks of the Great Salsipuedes Creek , whose name is a contraction of the Spanish phrase sal si puedes (" get out if you can "). According to official reports, 40 were killed and 300 were taken prisoner, with an uncertain number managing to escape; following the massacre, the survivors were forcibly marched to Montevideo and sold into slavery, with 4 notably being sent to a human zoo in Paris. While descendants of

1548-514: The same disease that took Guyunusa. The ultimate fate of Tacauvé, the last survivor of the group, is unknown; his later activities are scantly documented and no record of his death has been found, but Asenjo theorised from the few existing records that he integrated into the French lifestyle, adopting the Francophone spelling of his name and working as a medicine salesman and maker of card decks for some time before dying of sickness of old age; it

1591-458: The settlers' demands for protection. Rivera, who had maintained friendly relations with the Charrúa up and still enjoyed widespread popularity for his role in the war for independence, agreed to spearhead the Campaña de Salsipuedes — The Salsipuedes campaign. In early 1831, Rivera summoned the leading Charrúa chiefs — Venado, Polidoro, Rondeau and Juan Pedro — and their families to a meeting on

1634-409: 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

1677-547: The team's victory in the face of adversity struggles with injuries, as well as the lineup's relative youth and inexperience compared to their vastly more experienced Argentinian and Peruvian opponents. Council of the Charr%C3%BAa Nation The Council of the Charrúa Nation ( Spanish : Consejo de la Nación Charrúa , acronym CONACHA ) is a non-profit organization based in Uruguay . It

1720-512: Was an inherent disruption to their settler-colonial ambitions, the white settlers began to raise allegations of murder, rape, robbery and banditry. Preceding his assumption of the presidency, Rivera was petitioned in February 1830 by his rival Juan Antonio Lavalleja that the Charrúa, whom the latter described as "wicked people who know no restraint (...) (and could not) be left to their natural inclinations", should be confronted in order to satisfy

1763-492: 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

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1806-422: Was influenced by rain, drought, and the availability of prey. Compared to the rest of South America, European settlers were relatively late to the area due to fierce indigenous resistance along with the lack of natural resources attractive to the various empires. Following the establishment of the first permanent European settlements through the 17th and early 18th century, Uruguay became a center of conflict between

1849-751: 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

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