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On a hillside monument in Asuncin, a statue of the mythologized indigenous chief Lambar stands alongside other great leaders from Paraguayan history. The other historical heroes on display are of mixed ancestry, but the idea of a noble indigenous heritage is strong in Paraguay, and uniquely in the Americas can be expressed by most of the countrys people in an indigenous language: Paraguayan Guaran. Guaran is our culture its where our roots are, said Tomasa Cabral, a market vendor in the city. Elsewhere in the Americas, European colonial languages are pushing native languages towards extinction, but Paraguayan Guaran a language descended from several indigenous tongues remains one of the main languages of 70% of the countrys population. And unlike other widely spoken native tongues such as Quechua, Aymara or the Mayan languages it is overwhelmingly spoken by non-indigenous people. Miguel Vern, a linguist and member of the Academy of the Guaran Language, said the language had survived partly because of the landlocked countrys geographic isolation and partly because of the linguistic loyalty of its people. The indigenous people refused to learn Spanish, he said. The imperial governors had to learn to speak Guaran. But while it remains under pressure from Spanish, Paraguayan Guaran is itself part of the threat looming over the countrys other indigenous languages. Paraguays 19 surviving indigenous groups each have their own tongue, but six of them are listed by Unesco as severely or critically endangered. One language, Guan, has just a handful of speakers left. Meanwhile, a 2012 census reported that 48% of Paraguays 113,220 indigenous inhabitants speak Paraguayan Guaran as their main language. Alba Eiragi Duarte, a poet from the Ava Guaran people, writes in a language also known as Ava Guaran spoken by just 6% of her people. The benefits of
