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=Guaraní=  The native people of Paraguay are mostly called Guaraní. The Guaraní "call themselves Abá, or "men"" ("Guarani"). They “have lived in Paraguay for thousands of years” (Augustin 9). The people of the eastern side “lived in the lush forests… [and] had no trouble finding food” (Augustin 9). Most of the people lived off the land and their “subsistence was based on slash-and-burn agriculture” (Metraux). However, the people on the western side of Paraguay had to live a harsher life. Because the soil is not good for farming, most of the people “were hunters and gathers who were always on the move” (Augustin 42). The Guaraní, on both sides, “lived in small settlements” (Augustin 42). The council chiefs made most of their decisions. They “were elders who represented the major families” (Augustin 42), and were greatly “influenced by a powerful shaman” (Augustin 42). Their villages were usually made up "of communal houses, of ten to fifteen houses" ("Guarani"). When the Spaniards and Portuguese came to South America, they had very little interest in Paraguay, as “it had no gold or silver” (Augustin 11). However, they also brought with them Jesuit monks, who were interested in “convert[ing] the Guaraní Indians to Roman Catholicism” (Augustin 46). Before the Europeans came, “the Guaraní Indians had a strong belief system” (Augustin 95). They believed that “good spirits protected the plants and animals” (Augustin 95) and they “worshipped nature” (Augustin 95). They believed in many gods, but “their main god was Tupa” (Augustin 95). Tupa not only “was the master of the universe” (Augustin 95), but also “created the first human couple” (Augustin 96). They also believed that "land is the origin of all life, and is the gift" (__Survival International__). The Jesuit monks made a “mission settlement know as reducciones” (Augustin 46). The Guaraní were willing to convert, as “the reducciones saved them from Brazilian slave hunters and the… encomiendas” (Augustin 47). Even when the Jesuit monks left, the Guaraní Indians stuck to their new belief, as “86 percent of Paraguayans are Catholic” (Augustin 12). Today, most people are a mix of the many different cultures that are in Paraguay today. This can be seen as “ninety-five percent of all Paraguayans are Mestizo” (Augustin 84). The Mestizo people are the result of “mixing Spanish and Indian blood” (Augustin 84). However, there are many other different nationalities. 

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