Etymology
Chaco derives from chacú, the Quechua word used to name a hunting territory or the hunting technique used by the people of the Inca Empire. Annually, large groups of up to 30 thousand hunters would enter the territory, forming columns and circling the prey. Jesuit missioner Pedro Lozano wrote in his book Chorographic Description of the Great Chaco Gualamba, edited in the Spanish Cordoba in 1733: "Its etymology indicates the multitude of nations that inhabit that region. When they go hunting, the indians gather from many parts the vicuñas and guanacos, that crowd is called Chacu, in the Quechua language, which is common in Peru, and that Spaniards have corrupted into Chaco." However, the earliest known mention of the term in a written document is authored by the then Governor of Tucumán, Juan Ramírez de Velasco, who referred to the region as Chaco Gualamba in a letter to Fernando Torres de Portugal y Mesía, Viceroy of Peru, dated in 1589. Gualamba is of uncertain origin and has since become disused.
Read more about this topic: Chaco Province
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