THE 25 MOST IMPORTANT NATIVE PEOPLES OF ARGENTINA - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The original peoples of Argentina are the indigenous and autochthonous communities that inhabit the territories of this country. Its inhabitants were known for years as Indians, due to European influence but finally the concept of aboriginal was adopted, which means "who lives there from the origin."

In Argentina there are a large number of native peoples, present in different geographical areas, each with its own cultural characteristics.

During the 200 years these Argentine aborigines were victims of all kinds of acts of physical and symbolic violence by the ruling classes, overpowering their customs and lifestyles.

They were exiled from their territories, subjected and forced to adopt a religion and social norms, which were completely alien to them. However, some tribes maintained their identity and still remain.

With a strong defense of their culture and their ancestral rituals, the main original peoples of Argentina obtained with effort the necessary legal recognition to be part of the nation.

The main original peoples of Argentina

In this article you will be able to know which are the main native peoples of Argentina, ordering them according to their geographical location.

Northeast Region

It includes the provinces of Chaco, Formosa, Misiones and Santa Fe, there are five aboriginal peoples: mbya-guarany, mocoví, pilagá, toba and wichí.

Mbya-Guarany

It is one of the many tribes of the generic Guaraní group. These aborigines live in small communities of five families led by one country. In Argentina it is estimated that its population is about 8,000 people.

Mocoví

The Mocoví were known to be one of the majority groups in the area, but the advance of civilized society was destroying their customs and according to the last census, there are about 15,000 inhabitants of this town.

Pilagá

They are an indigenous people of the Guaicurúes group and they have a close relationship with the Tobas. Although its population does not exceed five thousand people, it has official representatives.

Tuff

The Toba were also known to be one of the great communities in this Argentine region and currently maintain one of the highest numbers of inhabitants, with almost 70,000 people.

Its strong cultural imprint and its ability to adapt made this Quom people maintain their customs over time and today have a powerful legal representation.

Wichís

This is another of the main towns in this area. The Wichís still maintain a large population and a strong social representation, which makes their rituals and customs endure.

Tapiete

They are a native people of the Gran Chaco, belonging to the Chaco culture, who speak the Guaraní language. It is made up of 524 people.

They call themselves Guaraní, Ava or ñanaiga and are also known by the names of Tirumbaes and Tapy'y. In Argentina and Bolivia where they also live, they are known ñanaguas or yanaiguas

Argentine Northwest

It includes the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta, San Juan, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán. The Avá-Guarany, Chané, Chorote, Chulupí, Diaguita-Calchaquí and Kolla peoples are in this region.

Tonocoté

It is the largest Argentine native people, made up of some 4,779, according to the ECPI survey. It lives in the provinces of Tucumán and Santiago del Estero. They are also known by the names of zuritas or tonokotés.

Avá-Guarany

It is another of the Guaraní peoples with a strong presence in Argentine territory, like the Mbya-Guarany, but in this case in the northwest region.

The Avá-Guarany were one of the main resistances that the Spanish had to face in their attempt at colonization. They currently have a population of 21,000 people.

They are divided into three groups: the Ava or Mbia, the Izoceños and the Simbas. Each of which presents certain cultural and linguistic differences and are located in different geographical regions.

Omaguaca

The omaguacas, also known as humahuacas, are a group of indigenous peoples who descend from myxogenized original ethnic groups. They are settled in Humahuaca and Tilcara, Jujuy province.

According to the last population census, it is made up of 1,553 people.

Quechua

They are called Quichua, Kechua or Quechua. They are an original people that live in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. It was linked to the Inca empire and spread throughout the entire Andes mountain range.

In Argentina about 6,739 people belong to this town, but the Complementary Survey of Indigenous Peoples (ECPI) conducted during the years 2004-2005, established that some 175,561 people descend from the first generation of this town and inhabit the provinces of Tucumán, Jujuy and Jump.

Chané

The Chané migrated from Las Guayanas approximately 2,500 years ago to settle in northwestern Argentina. They have a strong legal status and their population is just over 3,000 people.

Chorote

The Chorote, for their part, settled on the banks of the Pilcomayo River and from there resisted the advance of Western civilization, together with other tribes of the place. Currently its almost 3,000 inhabitants have legal recognition.

Chulupí

Neighbors of the Chorote, the Chulupí suffered the loss of their culture slowly and nowadays only a small group of families maintain this original town.

Diaguita-Calchaquí

The Diaguita-Calchaquí were also another of the dominant peoples of the region, but the advance of civilization reduced their population. Currently they remain in resistance and continue to be outstanding potters.

Kolla

Finally, the Andean Kolla people were one of the main resistances that the Argentine State had to overcome to establish a national regime.

This confrontation weakened its people, but it made its culture come to life and currently has 70,000 inhabitants, with strong legal representation.

Southern region or Patagonia

Image recovered from donquijote.org.

The Mapuches or Araucanians are one of the majority populations in the area, with religious and legal representatives that marked the national culture.

To this day, they are one of the most massive towns in Argentina with more than 100,000 inhabitants who still have tough fights for their territories.

Ona

The Ona, for their part, are a nomadic people who were victims of great massacres. This caused a brutal reduction in its population and only small groups of families that resist in Patagonia remain.

Tehuelches

Finally, the Tehuelches are the distinctive mark of Patagonia. Its name means "big foot" in honor of the giant Pathoagón. It has a strong social organization but its population does not exceed five thousand inhabitants.

Central region of the country

It includes the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa and Mendoza, the atacama, huarpe, rankulche and tupí guarany were registered.

Atacama

The Atacama are a people that lived in different regions of the country, but they are located in the center of Argentina because it was where the greatest number of inhabitants settled.

Industrious, developers and creators, they stood out for their constructions in straw and mud, and for being pioneers of copper work. Austerity in their way of life, they were characterized by their sacrifices.

They have a history of more than 15,000 years and still have a large group of inhabitants who maintain their rituals and culture.

Huarpe

The Huarpe, for their part, have a particular history, they were considered extinct for decades until at the beginning of the 20th century, different communities began to appear that recognized their aboriginal origins.

Dispersion made them vulnerable to disease and the advancement of civilization, but in the last 100 years they began to regain their ethnic and cultural identity. In the last census, its population registered more than 10,000 inhabitants.

At present, they maintain a strong conflict with the government of the province of San Luis over the lands of the Sierra de las Quijadas National Park, which the Huarpe claim as their own.

Rankülches

The Rankülches, for their part, are a nomadic and hunting community, which during the first decades of the 20th century resisted the advance of the malones in their territory with alliances with other peoples, such as the Tehuelches.

Its current population, according to the Complementary Survey of Indigenous Peoples, is over 10 inhabitants, half dispersed between the provinces of La Pampa and Buenos Aires and the rest in other areas of Argentina.

Currently it is one of the indigenous peoples with the most established communities within the national territory, with a strong legal presence in many districts.

Tupí Guaraní

The last original people on this list are the Tupí Guaraní, who are actually an ethnic group that includes different communities that speak the same language: Tupí Guaraní, made up of 53 different languages.

At present there are no precise data on the number of inhabitants that make up this original town, as they are scattered between indigenous reserves and cities, in which they try to maintain their ancestral rituals.

Sanaviron

The Sanavirones or salavinones, were a people that inhabited the central region of the current territory of Argentina in the 15th century. Their current descendants, some 563 people according to the ECPI, complementary to the population census, live in the province of Córdoba, also in Santiago del Estero.

Lule

This indigenous town of huárpidas characteristics (that is to say, like the Huarpes that inhabited the Cuyo region), has a population of about 854 registered people. It was originally settled in the province of Salta and in other neighboring areas of Bolivia and Paraguay.

However, the Wichís displaced them from that territory, so they had to emigrate to the north of the province of Tucumán, to the northwest of the province of Santiago del Estero and south of Salta. They are related to the vilelas.

Comechingones

It is the popular denomination that alludes to two original Argentine peoples: the Hênîa and the Kâmîare. At the time of the conquest in the 16th century, these ethnic groups inhabited the territories of the Sierras Pampeanas where the provinces of San Luis and Córdoba are currently located.

Some consider that the Kâmîare and the Hênia are actually two separate ethnic groups from the Orpid group. There are distinctive features of the comechingones that differentiate them from the rest of the original ethnic groups.

They have a Caucasoid appearance (men with beards from puberty), and taller stature (1.71 m on average), in addition to 10% of them having greenish eyes, which led to think that they had Viking origin. But this was discarded.

References

1. The settlers of the desert, Miguel Alberto Bartolomé: «The settlers of the“ desert ”», in Amérique Latine Histoire et Mémoire, number 10, 2004. Accessed on September 9, 2006.2- Complementary Survey of Indigenous Peoples. Recovered from: unicef.org.
2. "The perennial memory", Ministry of Innovation and Culture, Government of Santa Fe.
3. Native, Indian, Indigenous or Aboriginal Peoples ?, Jorge Chiti Fernández, Condorhuasi website.
4. The indigenous population and mestizaje in America: The indigenous population, 1492-1950, Ángel Rosenblat, Editorial Nova, 1954.