Rodrigo Montani y María Eugenia Suárez: Los juguetes de los wichís del Gran Chaco

Abstract. – In this comprehensive study on the toys of the Wichí people, the first question is whether there exists a native concept of “toy.” We are inclined towards a provisory affirmative answer: Wichí’s toys are all of the artifacts that constitute the referential extension of the native terms laquyeq, latsithyawu, and laqaitoj. On the basis of this revised concept, and using data from our fieldwork, the study of museum objects, and an extensive bibliographical research we describe over twenty categories of toys that the indigenous use – or used – during the life cycle. Finally, we classify toys according to certain bundles of traits in order to make intracultural generalizations. [Argentine, Mataguayan, play, game, life cycle, ethnography, classification]