South American Peoples
South American Peoples Encyclopedia Articles
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Inca
Inca, South American Indians who, at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1532, ruled an empire that extended along the Pacific coast and Andean highlands from the northern border of modern Ecuador to the...
Chimú
Chimú, South American Indians who maintained the largest and most important political system in Peru before the Inca (q.v.). The distinctive pottery of the Chimú aids in dating Andean civilization in the...
Wichí
Wichí, South American Indians of the Gran Chaco, who speak an independent language and live mostly between the Bermejo and Pilcomayo rivers in northeastern Argentina. Some live in Bolivia. The Wichí are...
William Duncan Strong
William Duncan Strong was an American anthropologist who studied North and South American Indian cultures and emphasized the value of archaeological data and a historical approach. The son of an attorney...
Guaraní
Guaraní, South American Indian group living mainly in Paraguay and speaking a Tupian language also called Guaraní. Smaller groups live in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. Modern Paraguay still claims a...
Sirionó
Sirionó, South American Indian people of eastern Bolivia. They live in the dense tropical forests of the eastern and northern parts of the department of Beni. Unlike other Indians of the Chiquitos-Moxos...
South American Indian
South American Indian, member of any of the aboriginal peoples inhabiting the continent of South America. The customs and social systems of South American peoples are closely and naturally related to the...
Chono
Chono, extinct South American Indian group that lived in southern Chile, between the Corcovado Gulf and the Gulf of Penas. At no time represented by more than a few hundred individuals, the Chono have...
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a Bolivian statesman, founder and principal leader of the left-wing Bolivian political party National Revolutionary Movement (MNR). He served three times as president of Bolivia...
Ge
Ge, South American Indian peoples who speak languages of the Macro-Ge group. They inhabit eastern and southern Brazil and part of northern Paraguay. The Ge peoples include the Northwestern Ge (Timbira,...
Araucanian
Araucanian, any member of a group of South American Indians that are now concentrated in the fertile valleys and basins of south-central Chile, from the Biobío River in the north to the Toltén River in...
Chibcha
Chibcha, South American Indians who at the time of the Spanish conquest occupied the high valleys surrounding the modern cities of Bogotá and Tunja in Colombia. With a population of more than 500,000,...
Yanomami
Yanomami, South American Indians, speakers of a Xirianá language, who live in the remote forest of the Orinoco River basin in southern Venezuela and the northernmost reaches of the Amazon River basin in...
Andean peoples
Andean peoples, aboriginal inhabitants of the area of the Central Andes in South America. Although the Andes Mountains extend from Venezuela to the southern tip of the continent, it is conventional to...
Warao
Warao, nomadic South American Indians speaking a language of the Macro-Chibchan group and, in modern times, inhabiting the swampy Orinoco River delta in Venezuela and areas eastward to the Pomeroon River...
Mapuche
Mapuche, the most numerous group of Indians in South America. They numbered more than 1,400,000 at the turn of the 21st century. Most inhabit the Central Valley of Chile, south of the Biobío River. A smaller...
Ona
Ona, South American Indians who once inhabited the island of Tierra del Fuego. They were historically divided into two major sections: Shelknam and Haush. They spoke different dialects and had slightly...
Quechua
Quechua, South American Indians living in the Andean highlands from Ecuador to Bolivia. They speak many regional varieties of Quechua, which was the language of the Inca empire (though it predates the...
South American forest Indian
South American forest Indian, indigenous inhabitants of the tropical forests of South America. The tribal cultures of South America are so various that they cannot be adequately summarized in a brief space....
Aymara
Aymara, large South American Indian group living on the Altiplano—a vast windy plateau of the central Andes in Peru and Bolivia—with smaller numbers in Argentina and Chile. Their language is also called...
South American nomad
South American nomad, indigenous inhabitants of South America living as nomadic hunters, gatherers, and fishers. In the past, South American nomads could be found from Cape Horn to the Orinoco River in...
Pijao
Pijao, Indian people of the southern highlands of Colombia. By the mid-20th century the Pijao were thought to be extinct; however, in the 1990s, having made a successful argument for “cultural reignition,”...
Julian Steward
Julian Steward was an American anthropologist best known as one of the leading neoevolutionists of the mid-20th century and as the founder of the theory of cultural ecology. He also did studies of the...
