Toba people

The Toba or Qom are an ethnic group in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. They are part of a larger group of indigenous inhabitants of the Gran Chaco region, called the Guaycurues. As of 2005, there are 47,951 Toba in Argentina, living in the provinces of Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe.

The Toba name themselves Qom-lik, meaning simply "people". The name toba is of Guaraní origin and means "big forehead", which is also the name given to them by the first Spanish settlers (frentones). This is because the Toba cut their hair short in the front of the head as a sign of mourning.

History

The Chaco region in the north of Argentina and part of Paraguay was formerly covered with forests. The Toba were originally nomadic hunter-gatherers who, upon the arrival of the Spanish, adopted the horse and resisted colonial encroachment and the establishment of missions for several centuries.

In the 1880s the Argentine government began a campaign to occupy new territories, defeating the last organized attempts by the Toba to defend their lands. The Argentine Chaco was divided up in large portions and exploited, especially for the valuable quebracho tree, used for its tannin and its extremely durable timber. This devastated the ecosystem in a relatively short time. The private owners of the Chaco then turned to cotton production, employing the Toba as a cheap seasonal workforce; the conditions did not change substantially for decades.