First Nations of the Chaco: the qom (Tobas) people

The Qom, also called Toba, constitute the main surviving ethnic group after the multinational invasion that ended with the independence of the Chaco nations.

They are related to the Mbayá (also called Kadijeu) of Mato Grosso, the Mocoví of the north of Santa Fe and the south of the province of Chaco, the Pilagá of the northwest of the Chaco, the Abipón and the Payaguá (these last two are now disappeared).

The ethnic Mbayámocoví-qom ethnic complex traditionally occupied the western shore of the Paraná-Paraguay hydrographic axis, had a relatively unfriendly relationship with the Guaraní peoples of the east and tenaciously opposed Spanish and Creole colonization from Paraguay and Buenos Aires.

They managed to maintain their independence until the end of the 19th century, in particular until the Argentine military offensive of 1884, which determined their subordination to the power of the central government of that country.

Originally, the Toba were divided into four subgroups with dialectal differences: the iolojpí (peoples of the "water dad"), the kolpi (people the mountain) and the eadgaipí (fire people in the houses) and the diapicoche (whose meaning it is unknown). When the Argentine government unleashed the war the Toba were organized under the leadership of Meguexogochi.

Its defeat implied that many qom had to take refuge in the sands of Santiago del Estero and in other remote lands

Labor in the "obrajes"

After the conquest of the Chaco by the Argentine government, an agricultural and forestry colonization process was established in which the qom were used as labor for the plantations and obrajes.

To resist forced acculturation they developed multiple strategies, one of which was "Christianized" in the Valdense cult. Indeed, there is a strong Qom-Waldensian church, in which the Qom have managed to maintain many of their ceremonial practices without further interference from governmental or religious authorities.

Some people maintain a traditional economy by planting, hunting and fishing, and selling their products in local markets. Others are forced to migrate camping along roadsides or along riverbanks.

Many communities have no land and others survive with enormous difficulties in areas of low productivity.

Due to this, the qom of Argentina are in a situation of extreme poverty, which has forced many of them to emigrate to the cities, where important colonies are located in the "villas" of Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, Resistance, Formosa and Salta. The total population of the qom is about 130,000 people. Some tens of thousands still inhabit their old territories, stripped of their land and in a situation of extreme poverty. Perhaps more than 60,000 have been forced to migrate to the cities, where they locate important colonies in the "villas" of Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, Resistencia, Formosa and Salta.