[from George Gaylord Simpson's Attending Marvels: A Patagonian Journal, Macmillan, 1934]
The boleadora was the one great invention of the pre-Columbian Indians of the Argentine. A few boleadora stones may be found at almost any old Indian campsite, and they are common Indian relics throughout the country. We have already found several. The Europeans accepted this invention with great willingness and boleadoras are still in daily and almost universal use.
A boleadora consists of two or three weights or bolas strung together by leather thongs, which are usually plaited from the neck skin of adult guanacos. The Indian bolas were made of stone, with the thongs tied in a groove around them, and these are still occasionally used. Now, however the bola usually consists of a sewed, spherical leather bag with the thong attached at one end. The bag may contain a stone, or pebbles, or shot, or even mud. I have been told of an ostentatious gaucho who had fine ivory bolas, and of an Indian chief who struck it rich somehow and could think of no better way to spend his money than by buying hollow bolas of pure gold (which were, however, stolen from him the week after he got them).
Boleadoras vary a great deal but in this region three main types are recognized: the chulenguera, the avestrucera, and the potrera. As their names imply, these are primarily intended to catch young guanacos (chulengos), ostriches, and horses, respectively, but they are by no means confined to those purposes. In Comodoro I was told that one rancher had recourse to boleadoras to catch his children when a priest unexpectedly arrived at the estancia and he wished to have the children baptized. It is only fair to add, however, that the rancher himself denounced this story as a malicious and willful libel – he says that he did not use boleadoras but a lasso.
Each type of boleadora has one small bota, the maneja, which is held in the hand. The chulenguera and potrera have two larger bolas, in addition to the maneja. Each bola has a thong the length of which is about half the extreme span of the owner's arms, and the ends of these three thongs are tied together. Both types vary in weight following individual preference, but the chulenguera is lighter than the potrera. For very large animals oversized potreras are occasionally made with the three bolas together weighing up to five pounds. The avestrucera has only the maneja and one larger bola and the thong uniting them may be longer than the span of the user's arms.
In practice, a boleadora is whirled above the user's head and then launched at an animal's legs or neck. As it goes through the air, the bolas separate and whirl like chain shot, and if any part of the thongs touches the animal the rest of the boleadora effectually ties the animal up, and some animals will not run with boleadoras around their necks, even though apparently quite able to do so. The Indians hunted on foot with boleadoras, but now in hunting they are almost always thrown from horseback. Ordinarily the boleadoras themselves do not injure the animals at all – they are commonly used for catching valuable horses, as are lassos in our West (and also in parts of South America). For hunting, however, they do bring the animal to a stop so that the hunter can then walk up and cut the animal's throat. This is the common procedure in most of the hunting in Patagonia, and hunters seldom use firearms. Shotguns are used for flying birds, which are too difficult to catch with boleadoras, and most Patagonians have rifles; but, so far as we observed, these are more for display or for the pride of possession than for use, as they seldom have any cartridges for them and much prefer to use boleadoras when possible.
The boleadora was the one great invention of the pre-Columbian Indians of the Argentine. A few boleadora stones may be found at almost any old Indian campsite, and they are common Indian relics throughout the country. We have already found several. The Europeans accepted this invention with great willingness and boleadoras are still in daily and almost universal use.
A boleadora consists of two or three weights or bolas strung together by leather thongs, which are usually plaited from the neck skin of adult guanacos. The Indian bolas were made of stone, with the thongs tied in a groove around them, and these are still occasionally used. Now, however the bola usually consists of a sewed, spherical leather bag with the thong attached at one end. The bag may contain a stone, or pebbles, or shot, or even mud. I have been told of an ostentatious gaucho who had fine ivory bolas, and of an Indian chief who struck it rich somehow and could think of no better way to spend his money than by buying hollow bolas of pure gold (which were, however, stolen from him the week after he got them).
Boleadoras vary a great deal but in this region three main types are recognized: the chulenguera, the avestrucera, and the potrera. As their names imply, these are primarily intended to catch young guanacos (chulengos), ostriches, and horses, respectively, but they are by no means confined to those purposes. In Comodoro I was told that one rancher had recourse to boleadoras to catch his children when a priest unexpectedly arrived at the estancia and he wished to have the children baptized. It is only fair to add, however, that the rancher himself denounced this story as a malicious and willful libel – he says that he did not use boleadoras but a lasso.
Each type of boleadora has one small bota, the maneja, which is held in the hand. The chulenguera and potrera have two larger bolas, in addition to the maneja. Each bola has a thong the length of which is about half the extreme span of the owner's arms, and the ends of these three thongs are tied together. Both types vary in weight following individual preference, but the chulenguera is lighter than the potrera. For very large animals oversized potreras are occasionally made with the three bolas together weighing up to five pounds. The avestrucera has only the maneja and one larger bola and the thong uniting them may be longer than the span of the user's arms.
In practice, a boleadora is whirled above the user's head and then launched at an animal's legs or neck. As it goes through the air, the bolas separate and whirl like chain shot, and if any part of the thongs touches the animal the rest of the boleadora effectually ties the animal up, and some animals will not run with boleadoras around their necks, even though apparently quite able to do so. The Indians hunted on foot with boleadoras, but now in hunting they are almost always thrown from horseback. Ordinarily the boleadoras themselves do not injure the animals at all – they are commonly used for catching valuable horses, as are lassos in our West (and also in parts of South America). For hunting, however, they do bring the animal to a stop so that the hunter can then walk up and cut the animal's throat. This is the common procedure in most of the hunting in Patagonia, and hunters seldom use firearms. Shotguns are used for flying birds, which are too difficult to catch with boleadoras, and most Patagonians have rifles; but, so far as we observed, these are more for display or for the pride of possession than for use, as they seldom have any cartridges for them and much prefer to use boleadoras when possible.
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| George Gaylord Simpson |
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