Tomaraho

Tomaraho (in full regalia)
11 x 14 inches, various materials on paper, 2020

The Tomaraho are a small community living in the Chaco region of Paraguay near the Argentinian border. They have remained concealed from Western eyes until relatively recently. The area, arid to begin with, is being further threatened by deforestation. I've been writing down at the bottom of each drawing in these series the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the music's country of origin. The numbers themselves however, do not reflect the severity or absence of the coronavirus in the communities portrayed. The more seclusive a people are, the less affected one would think. While this may be true in general it could also mean that once the disease is introduced there might not be the same resources available to fight it thus the effect on such groups might me more severe. It is known that the coronavirus was introduced to the Yonomami by illegal miners deep into the Amazon rain forest and recently further south as well when a Kokama woman was tested positive after being in contact with a medical doctor. The authorities in Brazil are fearful for the potentially deadly impacts the disease could have to these communities. The numbers in North America's Navaho Nation (in an area across the states of New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona), who are of course not nearly as secluded, the numbers of infected and deaths are staggering. I could not find any COVID-19 data on the Tomaraho. Paraguay, home to these people, is lauded for its response to the outbreak and had just 228 cases with 9 deaths when I tagged the drawing. 

The Top 100 song, again from Voices of the World: An Anthology of Vocal Expression [Les Voix du Monde], is a song for the dead titled on the cd box-set as ouhla teichu.