Fuegians
Encyclopedia
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
, at the southern tip of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. In English, the term originally referred to the Yaghan
Yaghan
The Yaghan, also called Yagán, Yahgan , Yámana or Yamana, are the indigenous inhabitants of the islands south of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego extending their presence into Cape Horn...
people of Tierra del Fuego. In Spanish, the term fueguino can refer to any person from the archipelago.
The indigenous Fuegians belonged to several tribes including the Ona (Selk'nam), Haush
Haush
The Haush or Manek'enk were an indigenous people, considered the oldest inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego. They inhabited the Mitre Peninsula, the eastern tip of the island, and made regular hunting trips to Isla de los Estados....
(Manek'enk), Yaghan
Yaghan
The Yaghan, also called Yagán, Yahgan , Yámana or Yamana, are the indigenous inhabitants of the islands south of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego extending their presence into Cape Horn...
(Yámana), and Alacaluf
Alacaluf
The Alacaluf are a South American people living in Chile on the Strait of Magellan , Chile. Their traditional language is known as Kawésqar.- Economy :They were a nomadic sea-faring people until the twentieth century...
(Kawésqar). All of these tribes except the Selk'nam lived exclusively in coastal areas. The Yaghans and the Alacaluf traveled by canoes around the islands of the archipelago, while the coast dwelling Haush did not. The Selk'nam lived in the interior of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego
Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego
Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego is an island near the southern tip of South America from which it is separated by the Strait of Magellan...
and lived mainly by hunting guanacos. The Fuegian peoples spoke several distinct languages: both the Kawésqar language
Kawésqar language
Kawésqar is an Alacalufan language spoken in southern Chile by the Kawésqar people. Originally there were several distinct dialects...
and the Yaghan language
Yaghan language
Yagán , also known as Yámana and Háusi Kúta, is one of the indigenous languages of Tierra del Fuego, spoken by the Yagán people...
are considered language isolate
Language isolate
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
s, while the Selk'nams spoke a Chon language
Chon languages
-External links:*Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: CHON...
like the Tehuelches on the mainland.
When Europeans, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
ans and Argentines
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
studied and settled on the islands in the mid-19th century, they brought with them diseases such as measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
and smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
for which the Fuegians had no immunity. The Fuegian population was devastated by the diseases, and their numbers were reduced from several thousand in the 19th century to hundreds in the 20th century.
Material culture
Although the Fuegians were all hunter-gathererHunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
s, their material culture was not homogeneous: the big island and the archipelago made two different adaptations possible. Some of the cultures were coast-dwelling, while others were land-oriented. Neither was restricted to Tierra del Fuego:
- The coast provided fish, sea birds, seals, and sometimes also whales. YaghanYaghanThe Yaghan, also called Yagán, Yahgan , Yámana or Yamana, are the indigenous inhabitants of the islands south of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego extending their presence into Cape Horn...
s got their sustenance this way. AlacalufAlacalufThe Alacaluf are a South American people living in Chile on the Strait of Magellan , Chile. Their traditional language is known as Kawésqar.- Economy :They were a nomadic sea-faring people until the twentieth century...
s (living in the Strait of MagellanStrait of MagellanThe Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...
and some islands), and ChonoChonoChono or Chona is a generic name for a nomadic, indigenous people of the Chiloé Archipelago, Chile. They are now extinct.The Chono became extinct during the 18th century with the last survivor going missing in 1875....
s (living further to the north, on Chilean coasts and archipelagos) were similar. - Selk'nams lived on the inland plain of the big island of Tierra del Fuego, hunting herds of guanaco. The material culture had some similarities to that of the (also linguistically related) Tehuelches living outside Tierra del Fuego in the southern plains of Argentina.
All Fuegian tribes had a nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic lifestyle, and lacked permanent shelters. The guanaco-hunting Selk'nam made their huts out of stakes, dry sticks, and leather. They broke camp and carried their things with them, and wandered following the hunting and gathering possibilities. The coastal Yamana and Alacaluf also changed their camping places, traveling by canoes.
Mythology
There are some correspondences or putative borrowings between the Yámana and Selknam mythologiesMythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
.
The hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
was an animal revered by the Yámanas, and the Taiyin creation myth explaining the creation of the archipelago's water system, the culture hero
Culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group who changes the world through invention or discovery...
"Taiyin" is portrayed in the guise of a hummingbird. A Yámana myth, "The egoist fox", features a hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
as a helper and has some similarities to the Taiyin-myth of the Selk'nam. Similar remarks apply to the myth about the big albatross
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
: it shares identical variants for both tribes. Some examples of myths having shared or similar versions in both tribes:
- the myth about a sea lionSea LionSea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...
and his [human] wife; - the myth about the origin of death.
All three Fuegian tribes had myths about culture hero
Culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group who changes the world through invention or discovery...
s. Yámanas have dualistic myths
Dualistic cosmology
Dualistic cosmology is a collective term. Many variant myths and creation motifs are so described in ethnographic and anthropological literature...
about the two yoalox-brothers (joalox). They act as culture heroes, and sometimes stand in an antagonistic relation to each other, introducing opposite laws. Their figures can be compared to the Selk'nam Kwanyip-brothers. In general, the presence of dualistic myths in two compared cultures does not necessaily imply relatedness or diffusion.
Some myths also feature shaman-like figures with similarities in the Yámana and Selk'nam tribes.
Shamanism
Both Selk'nam and Yámana had persons filling in shaman-like roles.The Selk'nams believed their xon (xon) to have supernatural capabilities, e.g. to control weather and to heal. The figure of xon appeared in myths, too. The Yámana yekamush (jekamuʃ) corresponds to the Selk'nam xon.
There are myths in both Yámána and Selk'nam tribes about a shaman using his power manifested as a whale. In both examples, the shaman was "dreaming" while achieving this. For example, the body of the Selk'nam xon lay undisturbed while it was believed that he travelled and achieved wonderful deeds (e.g. taking revenge on a whole group of peoples). The Yámana yekamush made similar achievements while dreaming: he killed a whale and lead the dead body to arbitrary places, and transformed himself into a whale as well. In another Selk'nam myth, the xon could use his power also for transporting whale meat
Whale meat
Whale meat is the flesh of whales used for consumption by humans or other animals. It is prepared in various ways, and is historically part of the diet and cuisine of various communities that live near an ocean, including those of Japan, Norway, Iceland, and the Arctic...
. He could exercise this capability from great distances and see everything that happened during the transport.
Gender
There is a belief in both the Selk'nam and Yámana tribes that women used to rule over men in ancient times, Yámana attribute the present situation to a successful revolt of men. There are man festivals associated with this belief in both tribes.Contacts between Yámana and Selk'nam
The principal differences in language, habitat, and adaptation techniques did not promote contacts, although eastern Yámana groups had exchange contacts with the Selk'nam.Language
The languages spoken by the Fuegians are all extinct, with the exception of the Yaghan languageYaghan language
Yagán , also known as Yámana and Háusi Kúta, is one of the indigenous languages of Tierra del Fuego, spoken by the Yagán people...
and Kawesqar. The Selk'nam language was related to the Tehuelche language
Tehuelche language
Tehuelche is a nearly extinct Chon language spoken by four people in Patagonia out of an ethnic group of 200. They were originally nomadic hunters from Chile. It is also known as Aonikenk or Aonek'o 'ajen...
and belonged to the Chon family
Chon languages
-External links:*Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: CHON...
of languages.
Possible Australian/Melanesian origin
The Fuegians have been thought to be physically, culturally and linguistically distinct from other Native Americans. Some proponents of this theory suggest they may be the descendants of Australian Aborigines who colonized the area prior to the arrival of mongoloid Amerindians. Further credibility is lent to this idea by research suggesting the existence of an ethnically distinct population elsewhere in South America. Both Tehuelches and Selk'nams practiced body painting and rock art similar to that of Australian AboriginesAustralian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
. In contrast to most Amerindian peoples, Fuegians appeared to be taller than most Europeans (this does not include the Yaghans, who were quite short with skinny limbs and fat bodies - a physical adaptation to the cold, or the Kawesqar. Current genetic studies, however, suggest continuity between Fuegians and other Native populations.
Modern history
Smoke signal
The smoke signal is one of the oldest forms of communication in recorded history. It is a form of visual communication used over long distance.-History and usage:...
s, for instance if a whale drifted ashore. The large amount of meat required notification of many people, so that it would not decay. They might also have used smoke signals on other occasions, but it is possible that Magellan saw the smokes or lights of natural phenomena.
Both Selk'nams and Yámanas were decimated by diseases brought in by colonization, and probably made more vulnerable to disease by the crash of their main meat supplies (whales and seals) due to the actions of European and American fleets.
See also
- Anne ChapmanAnne ChapmanAnne MacKaye Chapman was a Franco-American ethnologist. She studied the Mesoamerican civilizations and especially the Tolupan people of Honduras...
- Fuegian languagesFuegian languagesFuegian languages refers to mainly to three languages spoken in Tierra del Fuego by native Americans; the Kawésqar language, the Ona language and the Yaghan language....
- Indigenous Amerindian geneticsIndigenous Amerindian geneticsGenetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas primarily focus on Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups and Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups. Autosomal "atDNA" markers are also used, but differ from mtDNA or Y-DNA in that they overlap significantly...
- Thomas Bridges
- Julius PopperJulius PopperJulius Popper was an engineer, adventurer and explorer. He is responsible for the modern outline of the city of Havana, Cuba . As a "conquistador" of Tierra del Fuego in southern South America he was a controversial but influential figure.-Life:Popper was born in Bucharest, son of professor...
External links
VideosAudio
- Excerpts from the same material on Amazon.com
Bibliography, linking many online documents in various languages:
English:
- Extinct Ancient Societies Tierra del Fuegians
- Indians page of homepage of Museo Maritiomo de Ushuaia
German:
- Dr Wilhelm Koppers: Unter Feuerland-Indianern. Strecker und Schröder, Stuttgart, 1924. (A whole book online. In German. Title means: “Among Fuegians”.)
- Die letzten Feuerland-Indianer / Ein Naturvolk stirbt aus. (Short article in German, with title “The last Fuegians / An indigenous people becomes extinct”)
- Feuerland — Geschichten vom Ende der Welt. (“Tierra del Fuego — stories from the end of the world”. Link collection with small articles. In German.)
- erdrand galleries, 9 photos
Spanish
- Cosmología y chamanismo en Patagonia by Beatriz Carbonell. See abstract in English.
Shaman-like figures (Selk'nam xon, Yámana [jekamuʃ]):
- About the Ona Indian Culture in Tierra del Fuego
- Rituals and beliefs of the Yámana, mentioning “yekamush” Cosmología y chamanismo en Patagonia by Beatriz Carbonell. See abstract in English.