Country: Argentina

Ethnic Group: Toba

Date Finalized: 06 November 2020

Team: Zeenat Hammond (lead),Vianney Mancilla, Rebekah Kramer

Content Warning: forced away, ethnocide

Approximate Time Period: 1492-1853

There is limited evidence that the Toba ethnic group of Argentina has experienced forced labor. The evidence quality was rated at a 2.

The Toba people are one of the largest indigenous ethnic groups in Argentina with about 120,000 of them occupying the country. Following the arrival of the Spanish in 1492, the Toba people experienced much conflict and struggle. Toba people opposed the ideas of Christianity and in turn the systems of forced labor that were imposed upon them and enforced by the Church. This was known as the Jesuit Reduction, a 17th century phenomenon in which upon conquering territory and control, Spanish and Portuguese Jesuits or “society of Jesus” imposed a strategy of gathering native populations into communities called “Indian reductions” to which they were to confer Christianity and European culture upon them (Caraman, 1975). When Toba people resisted, they were met with massacre (Wikipedia, 2020) . Years later, the Toba had a degree of autonomy until their military defeat in 1920. The Toba faced issues involving land rights after their territory was reduced by 25% (Minority Rights Group, n.d.). Still to this day, due to a lack of support from the community and the inequalities they have endured, Toba people struggle with long lasting problems such as famine, endemic poverty, and continued illiteracy along with recurrent epidemics of cholera and dengue fever (Civallero, 2019).

Due to the limited information discussing forced labor of Toba, the data quality is rated a 2.

Sources

  1. Caraman, P., (01 January 1975). The Lost Paradise – The Jesuit Republic in South America. Book. London:  Sidgwick & Jackson. Retrieved from Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit_reduction
  2. Civallero, E. (2019). Argentina – Struggle Continues for the Qom. Retrieved from https://lab.org.uk/argentina-struggle-continues-for-the-qom/
  3. Minority Rights Group . (n.d.). Toba Retrieved from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/toba/
  4. Wikipedia. (17 Oct. 2020) last updated. “Toba people.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_people.