Payaguá

The Payaguá were noted for their ferocity and their skill navigating the Paraguay River in their large dugout canoes.

The Payagua plied the river in canoes, fished and gathered edible plants, and raided their agricultural neighbors, the Guaraní, to the east.

[4] The Payaguá population at time of first contact with Europeans in the 16th and early 17th century has been variously estimated as between 6,000 and 24,000.

[5] Diminished numbers notwithstanding, the Payaguá menaced Spanish travel on the Paraguay river for more than 200 years.

In 1537, the Payaguá killed Juan de Ayolas and 80 Spaniards at a fortress the Spanish had erected, probably near present-day Fuerte Olimpo, Paraguay.

The Payaguá along with their allies, the Mbayá, also carried out murderous raids to obtain horses, cattle, and other goods from Spanish settlements and Jesuit reductions.

The Spanish on their part declared in 1613 a "war of fire and blood" against the Payaguá and Mbayá and sent out numerous expeditions to attempt to kill or enslave them.

They traded the proceeds of their raids, including gold, to the Spanish in Asunción for iron tools.

In 1730, the Spanish changed their policy of "fire and blood" to one of fostering friendly relations and trade with the Payaguá.

By the 1740s some of the Payagua were engaged in supplying the Spanish settlers and cities with fish caught in the river.

A 1793 report described the Payaguá as "docile, noble, dedicated to working, subordinated to their superiors, and other good qualities."

With their numbers already in decline due to disease, alcoholism, intermarriage, and integration, the war was a demographic disaster for the Payaguá as well as other Paraguayans.

[14] In 1896, the Encyclopaedia Britannica reported that a "subdued remnant" of the Payaguá lived in the Pilcomayo River delta, near Asunción.