El Sendador II

“You don’t believe it? Well, then just think of the current example! The Sendador is guiding a large company of white people over the Paraná. These people want to go to Río Salado, which belongs to us. They want to live on our territory to look for the same yerba and fell the forests that belong to us and without which we can’t live. Isn’t that an attack? Did they ask us for our permission? Will they pay us for what they take, the river, the forests, the yerba, the trees? No! And if we resist being robbed, they reach for their weapons and use force. How many of us have died in this way? They don’t talk about that. And when they do talk about it, they do so boastfully. Am I right, Señor?” I hesitated to reply, for I couldn’t say that he was wrong. Then he continued: “If you talk about robbery and murder, then complain to the Whites, not to us. They are the attackers, whereas we are merely defending ourselves.” “But does one defend oneself by kidnaping women and girls?” “Yes, if there’s no other way to do so.” “You have other means – your weapons.” “You can say that because you’re a stranger in the land. Whites have rifles, powder and cartridges. We, on the other hand, possess spears and arrows by means of which we can do nothing against them. Must we not also strive to obtain rifles?”