Maxine Morarie
The work compiled in this website is the lifework of Maxine Morarie. In 1950, Maxine and her late husband, Howard, joined Ethnos 360, formerly known as New Tribes Mission. Their work with the Ayoré began in 1952. Together they worked to bring sustainable economics, medicine, church planting and linguistic preservation for the Ayoré people of Bolivia and Paraguay. Maxine’s linguistic work includes the creation of a series of reading primers, cross-linguistic dictionaries, a description of the Ayore grammar, the first translation of the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament, and, assisted by her husband, Howard, they collected and transcribed Ayoré narratives.
In addition to her work with the Ayoré, Maxine has taught translation principles or assisted in other tribal linguistic projects in Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico. She continues to work on producing cultural material and linguistic work that includes the mentoring or advising of anthropologists, missionaries, students, and others who seek to learn more about Ayoré culture. Her love of the Ayoré people is matched by their tenderness and love towards her. Her ongoing correspondence usually begins by their addressing her as “Mother” and she maintains deep friendships with tribal members in both Bolivia and Paraguay.
Maxine’s work would not have been possible without the guidance and close friendships of the following people: Ecarai, Dijaide, Yotequedéjnai, Beui, Comai, Cadui, Mateo, Gabidé, and Orone.
She would like to thank the following people for their hard work, and investments in making this site possible: Patricia Jolly for curating and designing the website, as well as advising on the importance of authentic voice in the translation of Ayoré documents into English and Spanish; Carol Ann Kelly for involvement since the early stages of planning through the ongoing revision process; her ability to quickly see the big picture and find a way to make it happen is invaluable; Michael Cheser for his countless hours in building and coding the website and for his research into how to host three languages; Joanie Finch for fixing the formatting for most of the entries and for the many hours invested in loading the pages; Ryan Brackin for the beautiful photography of the artifacts.
She is grateful, first, for her husband Howard who did content checking for her and made valuable suggestions as each book of Scripture was translated, and for her children who have been her main source of love and support throughout the years: Howard, Nancy, Michael, Mark, Carol Ann, and Patricia.
A special thanks goes to the Powers family for their generous support and encouragement that made bringing this website into fruition.
Patricia L. Morarie-Jolly
The website is curated, organized, and designed by Patricia Morarie-Jolly. Ms. Jolly is faculty at the University of Northern Colorado where she teaches Anthropology. Ms. Jolly began assisting her parents with Ayoré-related work while living with them in Campo Loro, Paraguay in 1986. Her graduate thesis was an in-depth analysis of Ayoré mythology and since graduate school, she has continued to work closely with Maxine Morarie, consulting on various linguistic projects as well as curation of their substantial collection of Ayoré artifacts. Ms. Jolly is honored to carry on the work her parents began in archiving as much Ayoré culture as possible. She shares their love of the Ayoré people and their culture and hopes that this website provides a space where the Ayoré can easily access pieces of their past. She hopes the Ayoré will someday find a space to engage in writing about their own culture. She hopes you can share in celebrating their rich heritage.