Ayoreo-Totobiegosode lady Ibore tells how, on 11 June 1998, their household risked every thing and made contact.
We walked to a spot the place my husband Parojnai had sharpened a spear earlier than. We stayed there, getting ready our camp. After some time we heard the noise of a truck.
We went to get honey, as a result of Parojnai had already discovered a tree with honey. Amajane [their eldest son] and I noticed a bulldozer. We noticed the bulldozer and we went close to, irrespective of if the cojñone [white people, literally strange people] killed us, we didn’t care in the event that they killed us.
There we noticed just a little home [this was actually a mobile trailer for a Paraguayan bulldozer-driver]. Amajane stated to us, ‘Keep right here, whereas I am going and discover out what the cojñone are like, whether it is potential to contact them’. At the moment we had no information of how the cojñone have been. When he got here again Amajane stated to us, ‘I noticed some cojñone however I acquired scared and I couldn’t go nearer.’
Parojnai requested me if I used to be fearful of the cojñone or not. I answered, ‘I’m not scared, I’m going to get nearer to them.
Berui [their second-eldest son] stated: ‘I’m going with you too.’ However I stated to Berui, ‘I don’t need you to come back with us. If the cojñone kill us, you’ll take care of your little brothers [Tocoi and Aripei] and reside with them. Berui obeyed and he stayed along with his little brothers. We went alongside the aspect of a highway, in direction of the cojñone.
We noticed the home of the cojñone. Once we acquired to the little home Parojnai shouted, ‘I’m Parojnai’. But it surely appeared as if no one was in the home. In that second Amajane shouted additionally, ‘My identify is Amajane. I haven’t come to kill you.’
Parojnai saved shouting, ‘I’m Parojnai’, and immediately a cojñoi got here out and I noticed what the cojñone are like; I noticed that they’re individuals like us. I informed him once more, ‘We don’t come to kill you, fairly we need to reside with you.’
The person stated ‘Eha, eha, eha’ and I seen that he was very scared. He saved transferring his head and searching behind himself, it appeared like he needed to run. He stepped again and I stated to him, ‘There’s no motive to run, we aren’t going to kill you, we’re good individuals.’
Amajane made indicators to him to come back nearer. When he got here nearer I hugged him with one arm and Parojnai hugged him on the opposite aspect, and I stated to him, ‘Sit right here’. I stated, ‘Don’t be afraid of us’ and I shouted to Parojnai, ‘You maintain him too, we don’t need him to go away once more’, and at all times with the identical phrases I stated to him, ‘Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid of us, we’re good individuals’. The person saved repeating, ‘Eha, Eha, Eha’.
I saved repeating to him ‘Don’t be afraid’. The cojñoi held one thing in his hand [a shotgun] and I requested Parojnai, ‘What’s it that he has in his hand?’ and Parojnai answered, ‘It’s a weapon’. And I stated to the cojñoi, ‘Don’t be afraid of us, convey us one thing to eat, we’re hungry’. The cojñoi went into the little home and introduced a plate stuffed with biscuits and he ate the biscuits in entrance of us. I attempted too, however I didn’t like them.
The person handed the biscuits round and laughed, ‘hello, hello, hello’, and he introduced some stew on one other plate. Similar to the biscuits, he ate it in entrance of us, I additionally tried it, and I didn’t prefer it.
Parojnai stated, ‘Carry us water, I’m thirsty, I need to drink water’. We noticed a bucket and there was water inside and we drank. Amajane arrived simply once we had already discovered water from the cojñoi. Amajane was afraid of the water and poured it out. I stated to him, ‘You shouldn’t pour out the water.’
The cojnoi went into his little home and introduced out a weapon. Amajane and his father stayed beside this man for the entire time, they adopted him step-by-step. Immediately, he shot within the air.
I acquired scared, pondering that he was capturing at my son and my husband. And I shouted, ‘Heeee’ out of worry, and immediately the person took off his shirt and he handed me his shirt, laughing. After which I went to provide him a necklace of purucode [black seeds] and I put it round his neck. Parojnai additionally introduced out a necklace of purucode and he additionally put it round his neck.
In photographs taken the following day, Ibore will be seen sporting the person’s pink soccer shirt.
Ibore and her youngsters now reside in a small Ayoreo group on the sting of the forest. Parojnai contracted flu and tuberculosis quickly after contact, and died of tuberculosis in 2008.
