Chamacoco, Tomaraho

The Chamacoco have lived for many generations in the Chaco Boreal, a region of dry forest, marshes and rivers, and they preserve their origin in orally transmitted narratives. For the Ishir, the history of the people begins in these myths, not in written records. The division between the river group and the forest group helps explain the people's internal diversity, and the Tomaraho preserve a memory of their own about this journey.

Contact with national society brought deep changes: new forms of work, schooling and migration to the cities. Even so, the people continue to remember and pass on their narratives.

Traditionally, Tomaraho life was organized around the forest: hunting, gathering and fishing shaped the calendar and the relationships between families. This knowledge of the territory, the plants, the animals and the seasons is passed down by the elders. Today, many combine these practices with small farming and seasonal work, and some live in villages and cities.

Oral tradition is central. Ceremonies, masks, dances and songs keep Ishir identity alive, and the language is the main link between generations. Preserving it is a challenge, because it lives alongside other, more widely spoken languages around it. Every song and every story teaches how to live well with the land and with one another.

Traditional Ishir spirituality is tied to the great origin myths, which speak of ancestral beings, of spirits who dwell in the forest and the river, and of a world in which the visible and the invisible touch. Ceremonies and narratives teach how to deal with these spirits and how to understand each person’s place in the community.

The Chamacoco people now have the New Testament in their own language. For the Tomaraho, leaving tradition can feel like abandoning their own history, and so the question about Jesus often involves the question of who they are as a people. The challenge is to follow Christ without feeling that one is renouncing Ishir identity.

The Chamacoco language already has the New Testament translated, completed around the year 2000, a great step for a language spoken by so few people. The complete Bible does not yet exist, and its translation remains a matter for prayer. There are also audio recordings and a film based on the Gospel of Mark in the language.

These resources are especially valuable because the people’s tradition is oral. Hearing the Word in the language of the heart, at home and in community, can reach those who still read with difficulty.

For the Tomaraho, faith is intertwined with identity, language and the memory of their ancestors, and abandoning traditional customs can sound like breaking with their own people. Added to this are the small number of people and the migration of the young, who often drift away from both the community and the language. Because the tradition is oral and the complete Bible does not yet exist in their language, in-depth Bible teaching is limited.

The Tomaraho need support to preserve their language and culture, which face a real risk of disappearing, and dignified paths for young people to study and work without having to renounce their origins. There is also a need for clear Bible teaching, for leaders from their own people and for materials in the Ishir language.

Above all, the people need a clear understanding of who Jesus is, so that faith can flourish as part of Ishir identity, without erasing it. Every generation that learns the language is a victory to be celebrated and protected.

The New Testament already exists in the Chamacoco language, completed around the year 2000, and there are audio recordings and a film on the Gospel of Mark in the language. For a people of oral tradition, hearing the Word in their own language opens a concrete path for the gospel to be understood and lived within Ishir culture. It is a foundation on which the people can continue to grow.