SANAVIRONES: LOCATION, SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, POLITICS, ECONOMY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The sanavirones were settlers who settled in much of the current Argentine territory. This ethnic group left an important cultural mark and experienced migratory movements due to both drought and overpopulation situations.

Sanavirones are also known by the name of salavinones. This race was circumscribed to the pampido ethnic group and in this racial elements from both the Amazon and the Andes converged. Generally speaking, this group was quite versatile when it came to their everyday practices.

Although they tended to be sedentary, the sanavirones were very agile in hunting, fishing, and gathering. Similarly, they developed an interesting handicraft linked to ceramics.

Location

The sanavirones occupied a territory belonging to the current Argentine Republic quite vast. Its final location was due to demographic and climatic situations.

On the one hand, the sanavirones experienced overpopulation; On the other hand, the original territory they occupied, the town of Salavina -which is currently the province of Santiago de Estero-, experienced a severe drought. These two reasons were the cause of their displacement to other territories.

It has been assumed that such a drought that occurred around the 15th century was linked to the so-called Spörer miniglaciation. The fact is that, as a result of this, the sanavirón people expanded towards the southwest of present-day Argentina.

The first sector they reached during this expansion was the Sierras de Córdoba, which were traditional lands of the Comechingones ethnic group. In the seventeenth century they were located in an area that bordered to the south with the territory of the Taluhet, which is towards the province of Córdoba.

In short, the lands occupied by the sanavirones bordered to the north with the Salado River. Also, to the south they reached the Suquía River.

The eastern limit was made up of what is currently the provinces of Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero. Finally, to the west it bordered the Sierra de Sumampa.

Social and political organization

There is not much detailed information about the social and political organization of the sanavirones. However, there are elements that allow us to intuit it and everything leads us to think that they had a tribal structure.

It is known for a fact that this ethnic group used a magic ritual hallucinogenic substance, which is why they were in the cultural stage of shamanism. In this way, the tribe was spiritually organized around the figure of the shaman.

The shaman fulfilled a role of a religious nature and was in charge of uniting the spirit of the tribe. Its function was related to establishing a bridge with the invisible world and preserving the tribe from snares of a magical order.

The individuals inhabited semi-underground dwellings where a large number of people resided. The houses were grouped in number that varied between 2 and 40, constituting small towns. Geometrically, the houses were lined up in a circle to ensure the protection of the town.

The political authority of each locality or group was exercised by the cacique, who maintained family ties with the different members; likewise, the succession in the chiefdom was given in a hereditary way from father to son. As can be seen, the social scaffolding revolved around the male figure.

Economy

Since the sanavirones peoples were essentially sedentary, they lived from agriculture and activities related to it. The type of land they mainly cultivated was humid in nature, especially those in the highlands.

Similarly, it is known that they came to use irrigation through the use of ditches. The predominant crops of this ethnic group were beans, peanuts, squash, quinoa and corn. In addition, they were dedicated to the collection of fruits, such as chañar and carob.

This town had an interesting development, to the point that with the pods that they collected from the carob beans they made a kind of bread.

Livestock was another area of ​​the economy that the sanavirones devoted themselves to. In this same line, the sanavirones dedicated themselves to the breeding of llamas; from these animals they could obtain wool.

Another activity that the sanavirones came to practice was hunting, it is assumed that mainly wild animals, through the use of bow and arrow.

Custom

Warmongering

The sanavirones peoples had a series of customs, but they always stood out for a certain warmongering attitude. They used to go to war against other tribes using bow and arrow. Additionally, they used a weapon known as a macana. Their villages used to protect them using herbal gadgets.

Sanavirone tongue

The language they spoke was sanavirona, but with different dialects depending on the location. Later they were acquiring the influence of Quechua, perhaps due to the interaction with prisoners of that ethnic group.

Ceramics

This town developed quite interesting pottery based essentially on ceramics. The sanavirona ceramics had two aspects: one monochromatic and the other with engravings based on rich motifs.

These indigenous people used to wear colorful ornaments, such as necklaces. They also painted their faces in intense colors in the style of black and red.

Shamanism

The magical religious practices of this ethnic group were very deep in relation to shamanism. Tools used to grind the cebil fruit have been found in archaeological finds.

This substance induced powerful hallucinogenic trances through which they accessed the world of the dead. Likewise, the sanavirones carried out rituals in which dances were performed; These ceremonies had an initiatory character and the different members of the tribe participated in them.

Religious beliefs

Despite not knowing much about their beliefs themselves, it is suspected that they conceived of their god as an entity analogous to the sun. Some cave paintings that remain of this town point to this type of cosmogony.

Another of the customs that the sanavirones had consisted of burying their dead in a fetal position. This had a cyclical implication, in the sense that individuals had to leave the world in the same position in which they arrived.

Sanavirones today

In recent times the different censuses have shown that there are still some small groups that define themselves as sanavirones and that in effect are part of the ethnic group. Even the Argentine government has set about giving legal personality to the different groups that still exist.

All this goes towards preserving an important socio-cultural heritage, which is inherent to full humanity.

References

1. Kellogg, S. (2005). Weaving the Past: A History of Latin America's Indigenous Women from the Prehispanic Period to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. Recalde, M., Raffino, R., & Berberián, E. (2005). The rock art of indigenous Argentina: Center. Buenos Aires: Open Group Communications.
3. Rock, D. (California). Argentina, 1516-1987: From Spanish Colonization to Alphonsín. 1987: University of California Press.
4. Silverman, H., & Isbell, W. (2008). Handbook of South American Archeology. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.
5. Trigger, B., Washburn, W., Salomon, F., Adams, R., Schwartz, S., & MacLeod, M. (1997). The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.