Argentina · Palm leaf and reed fiber basketry
Qomlashepí Onataxanaxaipi
The weaving of palm leaves (lag'aray laué), totora reed (che'ena), and rush (na'até) into baskets by women of the Qom (Toba) people, an indigenous nation of the Gran Chaco spanning Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia, concentrated in Argentina's 'El Impenetrable' region of Chaco province. Genuinely distinct from the neighboring Wichí chaguar-weaving tradition (CRAFT-2145) despite geographic and cultural exchange within the same border region, Qom basketry follows its own specific technique — most distinctively, totora reed, a thick, soft fiber, is specifically woven at night, when evening dew naturally moistens and softens the material into a workable state. Displaced by land persecution, agribusiness encroachment, and recurring Paraná river flooding, an estimated 47,591 Toba-identifying people remain in Chaco, Formosa, and Santa Fe provinces as of national survey data, while tens of thousands more have relocated to the peripheries of Rosario, Buenos Aires, and other major cities, where displaced artisans continue practicing and adapting the craft, in some documented cases actively attempting to cultivate their traditional plant materials in new urban settings.
Risk level: Endangered · Not Applicable — no UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription exists for this craft at time of writing
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