Chinipi

The Chinipí were a Vilela-speaking group of the Gran Chaco. Their name is closely related to Sinipí, another form recorded for a group speaking the Vilela language. In the eighteenth century Jesuit missionaries established settlements for Vilela and other Chaco peoples along the Salado frontier. San José de Petacas, founded in 1735, brought together several such groups on the river in the jurisdiction of Santiago del Estero.