By that time they still lived north of the Bermejo River[3] They became feared by their neighbours and the Spanish farmers, and even threatened major cities.

[3] They were finally concentrated in the Argentinian territory lying between Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero, between the Rio Bermejo on the north and the Salado River on the south.

[3] Before the introduction of the horse in the region, they subsisted by hunting, fishing, food gathering and only a limited amount of agriculture.

[2] By 1750 Jesuit missions had been established among them (chiefly by Martin Dobrizhoffer, who had been a missionary in Paraguay for eighteen years[3]), and they had been largely Christianized[3] and turned sedentary.

[2] The colonies had incessant trouble with Spanish settlers, and were often raided by the Tobas and the Mocovís, hostile Guaycuru peoples.

[6] The faces, breasts and arms of the women were tattooed with black figures of various designs according to their age and social status, and the lips and ears of both sexes were pierced.

[5] The men were brave fighters, their chief weapons being the bow and arrow, the spear and the club –all of which were carved out of a local hardwood tree known to them as netergé–, as well as the boleadoras.