During 2016, within the frame of the documentation project IGS0205, a book was published and distributed between the Ayoreo communities in Paraguay and Bolivia. The work in question is a bilingual story book (Ayoreo-Spanish) that features 19 tales of cultural relevance, most of them set before contact with non-aboriginal groups. This publication is intended to help preserve the narratives of a now elderly group who lived half their lives before contact, and share their knowledge with younger and future generations. It is also intended as a way of sharing the project’s data with the speech community. This book was co-edited by the lead researcher Santiago Durante and the main consultant and Secretary of the community of Campo Loro Benito Etacore. It was financed by the ELDP and published by FILO:UBA (publishing house of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires).

On 14th November 2016, two members of the Ayoreo community of Campo Loro, Paraguay, came to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in order to introduce the book in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Buenos Aires. The visitors were Benito Etacore, co-editor, and Pablo Etacore, who is author of one of the stories.

Before the presentation, Benito and Pablo talked with the students of an Ethnolinguistics class at the university. It was a very interesting exchange for both the visitors and the public. The students (most Linguistics and Anthropology majors) had a chance to talk to Benito and Pablo and even did an exercise on number elicitation.

The book presentation attracted a large audience and was held by a panel composed of the Director of the Career Miguel Vedda, the sub-secretary of publications Matías Cordo, the head professor of Ethnolinguistics, Lucía Golluscio, Amadeo Benz from the Paraguayan Ministry of Education, Benito Etacore (co-editor of the book), Pablo Etacore (author of one of the stories) and Santiago Durante (co-editor and lead researcher on the documentation project).

It was the first time Ayoreo members visited Buenos Aires and it was a great opportunity to share knowledge about this Chaco group with the local academic community. It was also a good opportunity for the main consultants to visit the workplace of the linguist involved in the documentation project they have been working on for the last three years.

To learn more about this documentation project and the Ayoreo language, visit the ELAR catalogue here.

Blog post by Santiago Durante