Nivaclé

The Nivaclé (formerly called 'Chulupí', an outside name) live in Boquerón and Presidente Hayes. Their language, of the Mataco-Mataguayo family, has a complex and unusual grammar: it expresses tense through demonstratives rather than through the verb. There is also a Nivaclé population in Formosa, Argentina.

Women weave clisá bags from caraguatá fibre. The Secretaría Nacional de Cultura recognised the Uj'e Lhavos community of Filadelfia for the dances and songs of Nivaclé women. At the Museo Etnográfico Andrés Barbero you can see collections of Chaco peoples. If you want to approach their crafts, do so at the Instituto Paraguayo de Artesanía fairs or at the artisan houses the communities themselves open, and do not enter a community without an invitation and prior arrangement. To learn more, the Museo Etnográfico Dr. Andrés Barbero (Asunción) and the Centro de Artes Visuales / Museo del Barro, which holds an Indigenous art collection, are two starting points; check opening hours before you go.