Currently, many Toba, due to persecution in their rural ancestral regions, live in the suburbs of San Ramón de la Nueva Orán, Salta, Tartagal, Resistencia, Charata, Formosa, Rosario and Santa Fe and in Greater Buenos Aires.

In more recent history, the Qom have struggled with problems such as poverty, malnutrition, discrimination and tuberculosis due to a lack of support from the community and the inequalities they have endured.

Led by chief Félix Díaz, the Qom community, joined by other indigenous groups, began the Qopiwini organization and built an encampment in the middle of the city of Buenos Aires in order to continue protests and gain further recognition.

[5] The first missionaries to make contact with the Qom did not immediately try to introduce them to an agricultural lifestyle, an approach that was adopted in almost every other part of Latin America in order to "civilize" the indigenous group.

As enemies of the Paraguayan state, on nights of the full moon, the Qom and other neighboring guaycurú groups would cross the Paraguay River on horse in order to carry out raids.

Led by famous chiefs such as Tayolique, the Qom frequently used guns to oppose European intervention and continued to update their rifles in order to better defend themselves and their territory.

[7] One of the missions, San Francisco Solano de Tacaaglé, was initiated by the Franciscan friar Terence Marcucci on March 21, 1901 with 150 Qom and Pilagá people largely coming from the northern Chaco in Paraguay.

This land was used to build houses, supply potable water and establish new bilingual schools were children learn their ancestral history and receive instruction about their culinary traditions.

[16][17][18] The bishop of Resistencia, the capital of Chaco, arrived to ask for intervention on behalf of the governor when ten indigenous people also died due to a lack of proper nutrition.

From 2008 to the present, the Qom have participated in a series of protests, in both the province of Formosa as well as the city of Buenos Aires, in order to raise awareness of the discrimination the group has encountered and demand rights to their traditional lands that are guaranteed by the Argentine Constitution.

[28] As a result of the violent events that occurred on November 23, Díaz, as well as 23 other members of the Qom community, were accused of crimes of illegal occupation and usurpation of land and became involved in criminal proceedings against them.

Members of the provincial government, officials from the Institute for Indigenous Affairs, CELS (the Center for Legal and Social Studies), and Felix Díaz, who served as a representative of the Qom community, were all invited.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asked Argentine authorities to take measures in order to guarantee security and safety for Félix Díaz and his family.

The vehicle that caused the accident was recognized by inhabitants of the area as that of the Celía family, who besides being close friends to government officials in Formosa, had already been accused of a previous attack against Díaz during the roadblock of the Route 86.

[32] The same month, Imer Ilbercio Flores, a young Qom child, was killed in a car accident in Villa Río Bermejito, in the province of Chaco.

A month before, a similar accident had occurred when a truck charged a motorcycle driven by a Qom woman named Celestina Jara, resulting in her death and that of her granddaughter Lila Coyipé.

[46] However, this time, the indigenous communities decided to set up camp in the former Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics, a controversial site that had once been used as a clandestine detention center for the disappearance and torture of political prisoners during the Argentine military dictatorship, and known popularly as the ex-ESMA.

The Qom and other communities hoped that by protesting in this historically important site, they would gain more attention and ultimately be received by the Secretary of Human Rights, Claudio Avruj.

Claudio Avruj, the secretary of Human Rights, affirmed that the agreement had been the result of meetings of the Council of Work and Dialogue between Indigenous Peoples and the National Government.

Avruj also stated that Díaz promised to dismantle the campsite at the ex-ESMA provided that the government continued to consult indigenous communities and move forward with Macri's previously signed compromise.

During the next two days, nearly 300 indigenous community members and leaders attended meetings and debates in order to establish internal rules and design an executive commission within the program.

[58] Following the event, women often divided the winnings of the battle or raid, splitting up the resources received and finding families to raise children from foreign tribes that were taken prisoner.

[61] These weapons were made from wood or pieces of hide and sharp objects such as piranha teeth or sharpened rocks could be added in order to cause more damage to one's opponent.

There also existed a very strict sexual division of labor: the men, from a very early age, dedicated themselves to hunting and fishing and the women collected food and worked in incipient agricultural gardens that were in large part influenced by contributions from the groups from the Andean and Amazonian regions.

In this way, the Qom women cultivated plants such as nachitek (squash), oltañi (corn), avagha (beans), sweet potatoes and manioc on small and medium-sized plots.

One group on investigators from the Department of Agriculture in the University of Buenos Aires, together with members of the Qom community "La Primavera" are working to reintroduce some sixty indigenous types of corn that are not reproducing as they should.

Hernández has studied these varieties of corn for more than thirty-five years and will be the director of a joint initiative to lead a team of agriculturalists, anthropologists and biologists from the University of Buenos Aires.

One of such works is "Antiguo dueño de las flechas" ("The Ancient Owner of the Arrows"), a song more frequently recognized by its opening line: "Indio toba".

[65] Chief Ruben Sarmiento describes the struggles the Qom people face living in this community, including poverty, discrimination, malnutrition, crime, Tuberculosis and Chagas disease.

In the early 1840s, the Qom revolted against Spanish soldiers led by General Manuel Rodríguez Magariños after their attempts to build forts and reduce Toba territory.