Nancy Ramos Boerr, Charrúa language speaker - Uruguay

GUSTAVO TABARES | URUGUAY
1968, Montevideo, Uruguay. Lives and works in Montevideo, Uruguay

Charrúa, 2014, sound installation
Courtesy: the artist

Ethnic group: Charrúa
Language: Charrúa
Speaker: Nancy Ramos Boerr
Location: Uruguay, Río de la Plata and southern Brazil
Population: 0
Level of extinction: Culturally extinct

Although they are considered extinct, there are a significant, though inexact number of descendants of several tribes living within Uruguayan territory (Charrúa, Chaná, Guenoa, Guaraní, Bohanes, Yaros etc.) who, in reality, comprise 4.5% of the population, according to a household survey performed by the National Institute of Statistics (2006). In it, 115.118 people identified themselves as being descended from indigenous peoples. Furthermore, quite a significant number of Charrúa descendants live in the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fé and Chaco; as well as in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In Argentina 4.511 people identified themselves as Charrúa, none of whom were living in communities. Presently, it is calculated that in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina there are about between 160.000 and 300.000 Charrúa descendants, all of whom are of mixed race.
In the recording the Uruguayan speaker tells numbers, plants as well as body parts and family relations in Charrúa language.