The Bohán were one of the native nations of

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. A minor tribe, they were related to and eventually subsumed by the

Charrúa people The Charrúa were an indigenous people or Indigenous Nation of the Southern Cone in present-day Uruguay and the adjacent areas in Argentina ( Entre Ríos) and Brazil ( Rio Grande do Sul). They were a semi-nomadic people who sustained themselve ...

. They were also related to the Yaro people. The Bohanes lived on the banks of the

Uruguay river The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

from the Río Negro to the

Quaraí River Quarai is a Brazilian municipality located near the border with Uruguay on the Rio Quaraí. The population is 22,607 (2020 est.) in an area of 3,147.63 km2, making it one of the largest municipalities in the state. Its elevation is 112 m. It ...

in what is modern-day

, near the modern border with Brazil. They were especially concentrated in the place of the modern reservoir of the

Salto Grande Dam The Salto Grande Dam is a large hydroelectric dam on the Uruguay River, located between Concordia, Argentina, and Salto, Uruguay; thus shared between the two countries. The construction of the dam began in 1974 and was completed in 1979. Power ...

(which was not flooded at the time). According to some scholars, the tribe originated from the

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east. Its capital is Paraná ...

in modern-day Argentina, and some of its members were active there regardless. Before the arrival of the Charrúas, the Bohán used as weapons the sling, the spear, and the dart. After its merger with the Charruas, they also began use of the bow and the bola. In 1715, a force of 1500 Spanish-allied

Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...

from the Yapeyú

Jesuit reduction Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such red ...

conducted a notable punitive reprisal raid on the Bohán, along with the Yaros and Charrúa. It was led by

maestre de campo ''Maestre de campo'' was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Carlos V, inferior in rank only to the ''capitán general'' and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council of State, and commanded a '' tercio''. Their po ...

Francisco García Piedrabuena. They reached as far as the arroyo Ñancay. Written accounts of the expedition constitute some of the rare written materials on the Bohán and their lifestyle written at the time.

References

External links

* Indigenous peoples in Uruguay History of Uruguay Indigenous peoples of the Southern Cone {{Uruguay-hist-stub