Strategies of Interaction between Ñuflo de Chaves and the Guaraní Indians in the Conquest of Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Abstract

During the twenty years that Ñuflo de Chaves lived in South America, he took part in many expeditions from Asunción to the West along the Paraguay River. In these explorations he learned a distinctive way of interaction with the natives based in permanent alliances and negotiations with the Guaraní. When he moved to the Andes foothills, he tried to keep on using these strategies, but the geographical and political proximity to the center of the Colonial economy imposed new contextual conditions that changed his relationship with the Guaraní. The paper describes the diverse experiences of relationship between Ñuflo de Chaves and different Guaraní-speaking groups.