The Payaguá people are a tribe of the Guaycuru peoples in the Northern Chaco.
The Payaguá are a river tribe, living, hunting, fishing, and raiding on the Paraguay River.
The name Payaguá is unlikely to be the name they called themselves; rather, it is the name given to them by the Guaraní, their enemies whom they nearly constantly fight.
It is possible that the name of the Paraguay River, and thus the region Paraguay itself, comes from this; the Guaraní tell the Spanish that the river was the "Payaguá-ý", or "river of Payaguás.
"The Payagua language is extinct; it is hypothesized to have been part of the Mataco-Guaicuru languages.
No people remain who identify as Payaguá; the descendants of the tribe merge with other Paraguayans, either as mestizos or members of other Guaycuru.
