The Indians of the Paraguayan ChacoSome forty thousand Native people live in the vast region of the Chaco in western Paraguay. They belong to five linguistic families and thirteen ethnic groups but share a common sense of ethnic identity founded on enduring values of reciprocity and equality. At the same time the Indians of the Chaco are one of the poorest groups in Paraguay, situated on the margins of the global economic system. Based on extensive fieldwork and ongoing contact with