The Querandà were one of the
Het peoples
Het is the term used by Thomas Falkner, an English Jesuit, at the end of the 18th century for various nomadic groups from the and Patagonia, including the so-called and northern Tehuelches, but excluding the Mapuche (speakers of Mapudungun). ...
,
indigenous South American
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
s who lived in the
Pampas
The Pampas (; from Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre RÃos, and Córdoba; all o ...
area of
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
; specifically, they were the eastern
Didiuhet (Diuihet). The name Querandà was given by the
Guaranà people, as they would consume animal fat in their daily diet. Thus, Querandà means "men with fat". Prior to the 19th century, they were also known as the Pampas. The
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...
(or araucanos) called them
Puelche.
This is today the present Argentine provinces of
La Pampa, most of the province of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the RÃo de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, the center and the south of the province of
Santa Fe (especially to the south of the Tercero-Carcaraña River), a great part of the province of
Cordoba (adapted ecologically to the temperate Pampasia, their northern limits were in the region of the
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco or simply Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland tropical dry broadleaf forest natural region of the RÃo de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion o ...
- around 31° lat. South) and the
peneplains of the present provinces of
San Luis and
Mendoza, although these zones were more difficult to inhabit due to its extreme climate and lack of surface water.
Physically, the Querandà people had a well-proportioned body. They were tall and extremely warlike. They wore leather clothes, similar to a fur blanket; women would also wear a skirt that covered their bodies down to their knees. With a semi
sedentary lifestyle
Sedentary lifestyle is a Lifestyle (social sciences), lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and/or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while enga ...
, they grouped their leather tents by their water supply in the winter, and they would go on their raids inland in the summer.
At the time of the arrival of the Europeans, they stood out as great runners, hunting, or rather capturing, by running down Pampan deer,
ñandúes, and even
guanacos, although to facilitate their activity they had invented two devices (one that would become a classic in Argentina): the
bolas
Bolas or bolases (: bola; from Spanish and Portuguese ''bola'', "ball", also known as a ''boleadora'' or ''boleadeira'') is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entangling ...
, and the more primitive one consisting of a stone tied to a cord made with leather or sinews called by the Spaniards a stone-lost boleadora. They would also hunt
tinamou
Tinamous () are members of the order Tinamiformes (), and family Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamily, subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" comes from the Carib la ...
s, deer,
quail
Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy.
Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...
and ñandúes with the help of their bows and arrows and their
bolas
Bolas or bolases (: bola; from Spanish and Portuguese ''bola'', "ball", also known as a ''boleadora'' or ''boleadeira'') is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entangling ...
. They also made
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...
.
They believed in a great god whom they called Soychu, who had a contender or evil spirit: Gualichu.
According to the 2010 census, there are 3,658 self-identified Querandà in Argentina.
Relations with the Europeans
In 1516, the Spaniard
Juan DÃaz de SolÃs
Juan DÃaz de SolÃs ( – 20 January 1516) was a 16th-century navigator and explorer. He is also said to be the first European to land on what is now modern day Uruguay.
Biography
His origins are disputed. One document records him as a Portugues ...
landed on the shores of the River Plate (RÃo de la Plata), but the natives resisted his attempt of conquest and the expedition failed.
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...
touched the port soon afterwards and went up the River Plate in search for a connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. When he saw that there was no such connection, he continued navigating southwards along the land presently called
Patagonia
Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...
, making contact with the
Tehuelche people
The Tehuelche people, also called the Aónikenk, are an Indigenous people from eastern Patagonia in South America. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Tehuelche were influenced by Mapuche people, and many adopted a horseriding lifestyle. Once a ...
s, whom he called ''Patagones''. After this, he discovered the strait bearing his name and connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
The Querandà tribe first met Europeans when
Pedro de Mendoza's expedition arrived in the area of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the RÃo de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
in 1535. The first foundation of Buenos Aires took place in March 1536 by Mendoza (1487–1537), who had been given the title of "
Adelantado
''Adelantado'' (, , ; meaning 'advanced') was a title held by some Spain, Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th a ...
" and empowered by
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...
“to conquer and colonize the lands in Solis' River, called River Plate". The exact place where the city was founded is not accurately known, as no traces of the foundation act have been found.
The Querandà people, who lived in the surrounding area, were friendly at the beginning and obtained Spanish goods in exchange for food resulting from hunting and fishing; but, suddenly, they chose to interrupt contact and food became scarce among the Spaniards.
With the intention of subjugating the QuerandÃ, Pedro de Mendoza organized a military expedition led by his brother, Diego de Mendoza, which was defeated on the banks of the
Luján River on June 15, 1536, in a
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
between the Spaniards and the QuerandÃ. The Spanish cavalry was neutralized by the QuerandÃ
bolas
Bolas or bolases (: bola; from Spanish and Portuguese ''bola'', "ball", also known as a ''boleadora'' or ''boleadeira'') is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entangling ...
and the remainder of the force managed to avoid being wiped out and retreated to Buenos Aires in the night. According to
Ulrich Schmidl, a soldier in the battle, about forty Spaniards and a thousand people were killed in the fight.
From that moment, Buenos Aires was at the mercy of hunger and the sporadic Querandà raids. The surviving people allied with one another to
besiege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...
and force the abandonment of the recently founded city. With the Spaniards abandoning their livestock, they adopted horse-riding and pursued wild cattle and other game, thus generating a new equestrian lifestyle. They continued being nomads, and they could more easily make contact with other native peoples and successfully made war on the Spanish.
Further attempts at conquest and population settlement in the
Pampas
The Pampas (; from Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre RÃos, and Córdoba; all o ...
by the Spaniards left from three different places:
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
and
Asunción
Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...
in Paraguay. From Peru, the cities of
Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...
(1553),
Tucumán (1565),
Córdoba (1573),
Salta
Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...
(1582),
Catamarca (1583),
La Rioja
La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...
(1591) and
Jujuy (1593) were founded.
From Chile were founded the cities of
Mendoza (1561),
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to:
* San Juan, Puerto Rico
* San Juan, Argentina
* San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines
San Juan may also refer to:
Places Arge ...
(1562) and
San Luis (1594). And from Asunción del Paraguay, was founded
Santa Fe (1573) and Buenos Aires (1580) and
Corrientes (1588). Resistance by mounted warriors prevented the Spanish from settling further to the South. The Spanish conqueror
Juan de Garay
Juan de Garay (1528–1583) was a Spanish conquistador.
Garay's birthplace is disputed. Some say it was in the city of Junta de Villalba de Losa in Castile, while others argue he was born in the area of Orduña (Basque Country). There's ...
, who carried out the second foundation of Buenos Aires on June 11, 1580, was killed in 1583 during an ambush by Querandi people on his camp on the banks of the
Carcarañá River, near the old site of
Sebastian Cabots Sancti Spiritus Fort.
Language
References
Sources
*
Ulrich SchmidlViaje al RÃo de la Plata, 1567.*
Thomas Falkner, Description of Patagonia and the adjoining parts of South America, Pugh, Hereford, 1774.
* Bruce G. Trigger, Wilcomb E. Washburn, Richard E. W. Adams
The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Vol III South America Part 2. , Cambridge University Press, 2000.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Querandi
Indigenous peoples of the Southern Cone
Indigenous peoples in Argentina
Colonial Argentina