At least nine indigenous communities, the majority made up of Guarani Indians, live in a 150 kilometer radius surrounding Foz do Iguassu, settled in reserves that guarantee territory and space for the social and cultural survival of the first inhabitants of the tri-national border region.

There are some 2.5 thousand Indians distributed among the Avá Guarani, Ache, Tavytera-Xiripá, Mborere, M bya Guarani and Maká communities. The Avás make up the majority (1,265) among the border area Indians. The have three reserves, two in Brazil and one in Paraguay .

The two indigenous reserves on the Brazilian side are located in the cities of São Miguel do Iguassu and Diamante do Oeste, and distances of between 40 and 90 kilometers from Foz do Iguassu. In São Miguel is the Ocoí Reserve, a 256-hectare strip on land along the shores of Itaipu Lake.

Tekohá Añetete Reserve

A group of 145 Avá-Guaranis is settled in the Tekohá Añetete Reserve, an area of 1,780 hectares , at a distance of 15 kilometers from the city of Diamante do Oeste. The area was bought by Itaipu Binational in 1997. The binational company has been providing aid to the community in partnership with other agencies and organizations since 1998.

The reserve has a structure that can be considered very good. It has a school and medical post, both made of masonry, telephone and artesian and construction of a water supply network is underway.
The school, under the direction of the teacher Casemiro Tupã, teaches history, Guarani and Portuguese to the reserve children. The school has set up a musical group, which has already released a CD with indigenous music.

The Indians have adapted very well to the reserve and the region. They maintain good relations with the local community. The Avá-Guaranis participate in cultural presentations at municipal festivities. In the reserve, traversed by the São Francisco River and with a waterfall, they plant peanuts, bananas, beans, manioc and corn.

Ocoí Reserve

Located in São Miguel do Iguassu, the Ocoí Reserve, an area of 256 hectares , currently houses 115 families, for a total of some 520 Indians. When they were settled in Ocoí in 1982, the Indians were smaller in number: 53 families (265 Indians), with 145 moving to the Tekohá Añatete Reserve.

The population increase in the reserve is due to migration of Guarani families from Paraguay , who came to seek better living conditions.

Service

Guide: Francisco Barreto Amarilla
Address: Rua Joaquim Firmino, 56, downtown
CEP: 85.851-070 - Foz do Iguassu - PR



The Paraguayan Indigenous Villages

On the Paraguayan side, in the Department (State) of Alto Paraná, on the border with Foz do Iguassu and the cities surrounding Itaipu Lake, some 600 Indians live in an impoverished state near the city of Hernandarias, 60 kilometers from Foz, in an area of 250 hectares , under litigation and invaded by Paraguayan farmers.

"The Achés have the best living conditions. They make a living from subsistence agriculture and handcrafts. And they have support from the North American missionary Bijarne Foster Word," says Amarilla Barreto.

In the Bosque Mbaracayu Natural Reserve, 100 kilometers from the border, are settled 180 Tavytera-Xiripá Indians in an area of 64.4 thousand hectares. There are two groups, one with 70 to 80 Indians and the other with 100 Indians who are settled in the same reserve.

Also in Paraguayan territory, in Ciudad del Este, a city on the border Foz, are found the Indians of the Maká tribe. Their community is the one with the best conditions for survival. The 275 Indians participate in municipal government social programs. Three times a week health area professionals make visits to the Indians. The Maká are served by dentists and doctors (a pediatrician and a general practitioner).

The tribal community resides in a sort of joint village. In a space ceded by the city government, they have electric energy and running water. The greatest difficulty is the lack of food. The Maká depend on sales of their handcrafts to make purchases in the region s supermarkets.

The Argentine Indigenous Villages

Next to Puerto Iguazú, the Argentine city on the next to Foz do Iguassu, there are two of the 42 indigenous communities existing in Argentina . The Fortin M Bororé Iriopú Indians are settled in an area of 150 hectares in Urugua-I State Park.

In the reserve, they practice subsistence agriculture and have a school in the area that teaches Spanish and natural sciences, mathematics, history and Guarani. The greatest problem is the area they occupy, which is small for the 275 Indians of the two communit.