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Campfire Songs Keep a Culture Alive in Argentina
 "Sleep my child, because I have to make the net, so your father can fish" Zuni, Toba grandmother, sings lullaby.
Gathering around a blazing fire as it warms the cool night air, the Toba in Argentina learn traditional songs and pass them from generation to generation. A grandmother, Zuni, sings a soft lullaby to her grandchild while an elderly man, Silvano, tells of his important role as teacher: "My father taught me. Now I must teach my grandson. I teach my nephew. I teach my son."
"The music we play is ours. It belongs to the Toba. Everything I sing comes from my ancestors", says a Toba man Ignacio. The Tobas depicted in the film have their own choir, numbering up to 12 people. Zuni, the oldest singer, is 80 years old and the daughter of the very last "cacique", leader.
The Tobas belong to the linguistic group Guaycurú, and number around 60,000 people in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. There are between 15,000 to 20,000 Toba in Argentina where the language can be found in the Chaco and Eastern Formosa Provinces.
The linguistic diversity and multiplicity of South America is thought to be unmatched anywhere in the world. Thousands of languages and dialects have been catalogued. However, most are now extinct, either because the peoples who spoke them have disappeared or because of acculturation into either a European language or in some cases into another indigenous tongue.
As well as laboring, the Toba have survived throughout the twentieth century by hunting and collecting wild fruits, vegetables and honey. "When we go for honey we leave early in the morning. We go to the mountains. It's our food. This is what the children like the most - the honey is delicious," say two younger Toba, Lorenzo and Clemencia.
Nature, art and habitat are of great importance to the Toba people. The Toba culture is rich with tradition and centers around the preservation of religion. The sun represents peace, wind symbolizes strength and water personifies life.
A self-sufficient people, the Tobas have their own 'curandero', doctor, because they believe that outside doctors are not capable of curing all diseases. The currandero produces his or her own medicine and remedies, based on natural ingredients.
The Toba take life as it comes, focusing on the present rather than the future. For example, when collecting food from the woods, they will take just enough for that day only. "If today they eat, fine. If not, that is fine too", observes Ramiro Schejtman, one of the Discovery Channel crew who filmed them. Ramiro continues: "No matter what the situation is, or the life they live, the Toba are never stressed or frustrated. They have no
idea what stress is, they just don't know about that. They're happy people in their own way."
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