In the early 20th century, Erland Nordenskiöld was the first professional ethnographer to study the Indigenous peoples of the Bolivian Chaco. He and his followers laid the foundations of the anthropology of the region, but all of them also made extensive use of the writings and observations of their predecessors: colonial chroniclers, missionaries, and explorers.
What did these predecessors describe and for what purpose? Under what circumstances did they carry out their observations, and what vision of the Indigenous peoples emerges from their writings? Their texts combine scientific interest with more practical colonising and evangelising purposes. Ethnographic data was occasionally distorted or mixed up with ideological and personal interests. In some cases, the records in question were imitations of other writings or outright plagiarism. Their flaws and strengths nevertheless constitute an essential part of the history of Chaco ethnology.
Etnografías pretéritas del Chaco boliviano
Combès, Isabelle. 2023. Etnografías pretéritas del Chaco boliviano. Colección Ciencias Sociales e Historia. Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Centro de Investigación Histórica y Antropológica (CIHA); El País; Bérose; Heterodoxia.
ISBN : 978-99974-19-26-2.