Madeleine Polland

Chuiraquimba and Black Robes Madeleine Polland

Chuiraquimba has lived all her life in the forests, the daughter of a powerful chief. When her father abandons her dying brother, she runs to the "Black Robes" for help. She and her brother are welcomed into the Jesuit reductions and come to believe in the Christian religion. Slave traders however hunt the Guarani, poaching them from the reductions despite the priests efforts to convert the slavers and reform the practice of slavery. Eventually the priests gather the remaining Guarani and move south over the falls along the Parana River to a better location. Along the way, Chuiraquimba's faith is tested, but she never falters and ultimately finds hope waiting at the end of her journey. Based on the true events of 1600s Paraguay.