April 3, 2017 - The Chiriguano Statue

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The Chiriguano Statue

The Chiriguano is a frightening statue on the rotunda of the Second Ring and the Avenida Grigota, which passing the Chriguano becomes the Doble Via la Guardia.  To the west of the statue is the crowded Ramada Market.  A little research and I find there is an interesting story behind this statue.

The Indian stands defensively dressed only in the bow and arrows on his pedestal around one of the busiest intersections of Santa Cruz.  He faces west, but probably should be facing east.

The statue symbolizes an event in Santa Cruz history, when the Guarani were attempting to repel an attack of the Incas, who were stationed at Samaipata.  The Incas, realizing there was a fertile land stretched out before them had decided to leave the Andes Mountains and conquer the savannahs of what is now Santa Cruz.  Everyone the Inca had encountered up to this point were either conquered with might of their army or cowed into submission with diplomacy.  The Guarani were to prove a different story.

Part of the ruins of Samaipata

They fought ferociously, defending their homeland from the invaders from the mountains.  The Inca had never encountered a people like the Guarani.  They were becoming desperate, when they were able to capture one of the leaders of the Guarani.  This man was brought before the general of the Incas, stationed at the fort of Samaipata.  The general asked him to surrender and convince his people to do likewise.  The man refused.

“I chiri huano!” the general cried.  “Leave him tied up.”

The man was left tied up, naked.  The nights in Samaipata can be very cold.  That night was just such a night.  In the morning he was found dead from exposure.  To his people he would forever be a hero.

Not long after, the Incan soldiers were recalled from this re mote settlement to the center of the Empire.  It seems a handful of strange foreigners had killed the Emperor and effectively conquered the entire realm.  The Guarani of the West were never conquered by the Inca.  The Inca never made it farther west than Samaipata. 

But the Guarani were eventually defeated, not by arms, but by the advance of the smallpox epidemic accidentally brought by the European invaders to the Americas.  One wonders what might have happened if the disease had not wiped out so many indigenous tribes.  Would there be a Republic of Guarani in Santa Cruz now?  We'll never know.

With this story, the Chiriguano becomes one of my favorite statues.  I love those who will willingly die for their homelands, like this man.  I don't know his name, but he is a hero.

Translated and adapted from an article on stcrzysustradiciones.blogspot.com.