Witchcraft as a political discourse among the Toba of the Argentine Chaco

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the new forms of political action and practices of witchcraft in suburban and rural settings among East Toba of the Argentine Chaco. The tuffs belonging to the linguistic family Guaycurú Qom and calling themselves, are located in the Gran Chaco (Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay). Before the conquest and colonization were hunter-gatherers who were organized into endogamous bilateral bands composed of a variable number of extended families. These bands, identified with distinctive names, roamed a known and particular territory, "meet to form larger social units to celebrate the season algorroba, as schools of fish traced the rivers."