About 20 years ago, I took a ski lesson in Deer Valley, Utah, where my ski instructor talked about his life and work as we rode the chairlifts up the mountain. Born in Argentina, he decided to pursue his passion for skiing with a career as a ski instructor. He teaches skiing in Utah from November through March, then heads south to teach skiing at one the Patagonian ski resorts during their winter months. When he is not skiing, he treks through his favorite place in the world: Patagonia. That sparked my curiosity, for I knew nothing about Patagonia. Listening to his tales, the region promises the unknown and adventure. In 2006, we visited several spots in Patagonia on our way to Antarctica. Our time was limited, given that our primary objective was Antarctica and other parts of South America. The closest we got to experience the mystery was a six-hour hike on the tundra, in the foothills of mountains near Punta Arenas. It was breathtaking: clear air, clear skies, a quiet place to meditate and reflect.
2006 Patagonia
2006 Patagonia Foothills
Similarly, this year’s trip was focused on exploring Antarctica, but differed in that Patagonia was the launch point of our journey. We spent four days cruising the fjords, including a stop at Cape Horn. Seeing, experiencing the area, accentuated with onboard lectures on essential features and history gave me a greater understanding. Let’s set the stage.
The Patagonian region is made up of the lowest third of the South American continent, about 15% larger than Texas. The population is only two million. Early on, both Chile and Argentina claimed the region. Rivers and the Andes Mountain served as unofficial, natural borders and minimized contact and hence conflict. However, in the very southern area, the contention was strong. The Andes Mountain range was like a spine for the South American continent. Starting in the Caribbean area in the North, then following the West coast of South America until it ultimately reaches its end in Antarctica. About 15 million years ago, the Antarctic plate subducted beneath the South American plate, allowing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to meld. Antarctica’s Transarctic Mountain range was initially part of the Andes.
The Colorado River delineates the northern border of Patagonia. The southern boundary is not defined by any geological feature, but rather by treaty. Spanning many years, a series of agreements have clarified these borders. The entrance to the Magellan Straits is the cornerstone. The northern-southern border between Chile and Argentina is an arbitrary, vertical line across Tierra del Fuego. East of the line is Argentina, and West is Chile (see the map below).
Map of Patagonia
Approximately 10% of Patagonia is in Chile, and the rest is in Argentina. Magellan discovered the Straits in 1520 on his quest to find a route to the East Indies. Following his discovery, Spain made several attempts to establish settlements to defend its right to the territory and to protect the straits from pirates. It was not until 1843 that Spain launched an expedition along the Straits of Magellan, with the specific mission to build a fort and thus claim the region. Over subsequent years, the settlement was relocated a couple of times, finally ending up in its current location, Ponta Arenas. Later it served as a penal colony, a posting for unruly military personnel, and a melting pot of immigrants from Chile and pirates who wanted a different life.
Punta Arenas continued to grow as a key resupply port for ships traveling between Europe and the Far East until the Panama Canal opened in 1913. In 1870 British immigrants settled in Punta Arenas and started sheep farming for wool. By 1890, the wool business dominated the economy. Ultimately, more than 2 million head of sheep occupied 12 thousand square miles of grasslands around the Straits of Magellan. Today, the economy is dominated by agriculture and support for scientific expeditions to the Antarctic. More than 130 cruise ship visits are expected this year during the short four-month summer season.
The area south of the Straits of Magellan consists of mountains, lakes, glaciers, and islands interconnected by a network of channels, including the famous Beagle Channel. After boarding our ship, the MS Roald Amundsen, in Punta Arenas, we sailed south with the aid of a local navigation pilot that would captain the ship through the labyrinth of channels, including the Cockburn Channel. We reached the western entrance to the Beagle Channel by early morning. The 150-mile channel was named after the ship, Beagle, which was used to survey this region between 1826 and 1830. The Beagle subsequently carried a young naturalist, Charles Darwin, to record his first sighting of a glacier in January of 1833. That first glacier marked the beginning of a stretch of the Beagle Channel referred to as Glacier Alley that parades five tidewater glaciers named after countries: Holland, Italy, France, Germany, and Spain.
I recall that during the 2006 trip, we sailed this same Glacier Alley. The ice scientists onboard announced that these glaciers are receding as a result of global warming and might not be visible in five years. To see if this was true, I pulled out a few photographs I had taken during our 2006 trip, to compare with what I was seeing now. Not discounting the reality of global warming, I noted the glaciers seemed the same, without noticeable change. I’m sure there was a change, but as the saying goes, it all moves at glacier speeds.
We continued, sailing past the Argentinian town of Ushuaia, on our way to Port Williams, where we secured clearance to travel to Antarctica. As we headed to our next destination, Cape Horn, we had ample time to attend lectures about Patagonia: geology, fauna, flora, and human presence. I attended the geology sessions but was most interested in the human presence lecture.
The lecturer was Luciano Galvez-Martinez. Born in Santiago, he considers Patagonia his home. He had studied Translation and Conference Interpreting (English, Spanish, and German) at the University of Concepción, Chile. He was awarded two scholarships by the DAAD to study at the IIK Düsseldorf and the Universität Leipzig. His specialty is Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. He worked for seven years as a tour guide in Torres del Paine, and he was part of the expedition team onboard the Stella Australis in Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn for an entire year.
While not an anthropologist, he did weave a viable story of how humans ended up in this part of the world. Admittedly, anthropologists have developed a range of theories based on DNA sequencing and discovery of human remains, but no unified agreement on how humans came to Patagonia. Nonetheless, there is general consensus that humans did occupy Patagonia as far back as 10,000 years ago.
Luciano’s recital has humans originating in North Africa, migrating across the Asian continent about 25,000 years ago. They continued East, crossing the Bering land bridge between Asia and Alaska, about 15,000 years ago. Driven by their search for available food, they continued south along the western parts of North and South America to arrive at the southern tip of South America about 10,000 years ago. Over time, five indigenous tribes with different cultures began to emerge, based on where they lived and how they acquired food. Hunters or gatherers, inland or coastal, religious beliefs, and language defined their culture and survival. At the time of Magellan’s exploration, Patagonia was populated by five indigenous tribes. Some depended on agriculture, while others lived as hunter-gatherers. Tribes in the eastern part of Patagonia typically traveled by foot, while those in the west and south depended on canoes to navigate the fjords and channels.
Tribes of Patagonia
The indigenous group, Tehuelches, were the first people Fernando Magellan encountered on discovering what is now referred to as the Straits of Magellan. While wintering in San Julian Bay, Magellan’s crew found tracks left in the muddy ground by enormous feet. They fantasized that these people must be giants. Fantasy met reality when they spied a man strolling along the shoreline. Magellan sent a crew member, Piqafetta, ashore, to investigate. Encountering the very tall native, he noticed that his oversized footprints were made by the guanaco-leather moccasins. The native was very tall, more than six and a half feet in height. Considering that at that time, the average European male was just over four and a half feet tall, it was reasonable to label these people as giants. Magellan thus named them Patagonians, after a mythical giant character, Pathoagon, in a popular 16th-century Spanish novel. However, as they learned more about the people of the region, they were referred back to by their actual name, Tehuelches.
The Tehuelches (Aonikenk) people were nomadic hunter-gatherers who followed the Guanaco (Llama) herds. Both the Guanaco and rheas (a large, flightless bird, more than five feet tall and related to the ostrich) were the primary sources of food, clothing, and tools. They hunted on foot, with bow and arrow, until the introduction of horses in the middle of the 17th century. They captured wild horses, probably descendants of horses left behind by the sixteenth-century conquistadors. Horses provided many benefits – food, muscle to help with heavy work, bones for tools, and hides to build a shelter for protection from the harsh environment. They also increased the hunting range and changed the way they hunted. Riding horses, they could chase their prey and throw a bola (two or three stones the size of a lacrosse ball, tied together by long wires) aimed at their feet to wrap the legs and bring them down, making the kill much easier. While men were responsible for the security of the family, care of the horses, and hunting, the women’s duties included gathering firewood, getting water, cooking, making clothing, and raising their children. A man could have several wives, depending on his stature in the tribe and his wealth, which was generally measured by the number of horses he owned. Their clothing was made from animal hides, with the fur side against the skin, unlike our fur coats.
Young Tehuelche 1863
Tehuelche elder
With the arrival of the Europeans, the impact on their thousand-year-old lifestyle was dramatic. They were forced to abandon their nomadic life and to learn how to farm and raise sheep. These changes, along with exposure to new diseases and alcohol, set them on the path to extinction. José Maria Cuai, who died in 1960 at the age of 90, was the last full-blooded Tehuelche.
Tehuelche Women and Children
The next group, the Selknam people, numbered about 4,000 people when the first Europeans arrived in the 1880s. They were concentrated in the East, on the largest island in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago (see map). They were hunters. Despite the cold climate, their clothing was minimal. In contrast to the Tehuelche people, the Selkam made clothing from animal hides, with the fur facing out…like our fur coats.
Selknam ready for the initiation ceremony
Their religious beliefs, based on multiple spirits, played a significant role in the ceremony to transition to manhood. The secretive, male initiation (Hain) ceremony would test both physical and mental strength and could last for months. The ceremony reminded me of the passage to adulthood (minus the circumcision) ceremony practiced by the Maasai in Tanzania and Kenya. Black body paint, white stripes, the period of sequester to learn skills assigned to males, and tests are just a few similarities.
The Killing of Selknam people
Late in the 19th century, British settlers arrived to develop the land and brought in sheep herds purchased in the Falklands, converting the land to pasture fields, thereby pushing the Selknam off their traditional ground and reducing their hunting areas. Both the Chilean and Argentinian governments endorsed the encroachment to support economic growth. Not understanding the concept of private property or ownership, the Selknams hunted the farmers’ sheep, which were much easier to bring down than their traditional prey. Attempts to teach the Selknam to honor property were fruitless. Eventually, the settlers began to consider them as sub-human, embarking on the genocide of the Selknam people. Some of the sheep ranchers even offered a bounty ( one pound sterling) for every Selknam killed and confirmed by a pair of ears or hands. Some ranchers also reverted to killing by poisoning their food. Luciano showed photos of successful hunters, proud, rifle bearing, horse riding ranchers displaying their kill (very gruesome). One group of Selknams was rounded up in 1895 and relocated to Dawson Island, where they were handed over to the Salesian (Catholic) mission to be evangelized and ‘civilized.’ Some were sent to settlers as workers. When training them failed, the settlers took the children from their parents and gave them away. A group of 11 Selknams was captured and taken to Europe to be displayed much like zoo animals. Others died from diseases introduced by the Europeans. Angela Loij, the last full-blood Selknam, died in 1974.
Selknam captives en route to Europe
Selknam family on display and to perform in Europe
Living adjacent to the Selknams, the Haush were a polygamous society of people numbering only about 500. They occupied the south-eastern finger of the Great Island, reaching east into the Atlantic Ocean. One theory is that the Haush were pushed into this finger of land as the Selknams expanded south. Despite hostilities, the two people shared many similarities in culture and ceremony. In addition to the coming-of-age ceremony, the Haush had numerous celebrations and rituals. Ceremonies could include competition and ordeals to determine who was the most powerful shaman. Unique to the Haush were ceremonies that included chanting into a trance, dancing, and walking barefoot over burning embers.
Haush woman staying warm
Haush family
Mariners rounding Cape Horn, including Captain James Cook, would see large fires lit by the Haush as they passed by, waving their capes of animal pelts and shouting like a roar, until dark. These fires were frequently used as navigational aids.
The Haush were not sea-going people. They subsisted on fish and marine mammals found along the shore. They ventured inland to hunt the guanaco, which provided material for their garments, as well as protein for their diets. The guanaco skin with the hair outside was worn as a cape for protection against the cold. When doing physical work, such as hunting, the wraps were discarded, leaving them completely naked. It was a tough life, adapting to one of the most brutal climates on earth.
The Haush were caught up in the genocidal campaign initiated against the Selknams and orchestrated by the Romanian born Julius Pooper. As the population dwindled, the Selknam and Haush survivors huddled and merged near Lake Fagnani. This remaining cluster succumbed to diseases brought in by the Europeans. The final blow was the measles epidemic in the 1920s, which wiped out the remaining people.
The next tribe, Yaghan, occupied the southernmost part of Patagonia, which includes Cape Horn. Population wise they numbered about 3,000 when Europeans arrived. They traveled between the many islands to secure food. Men hunted birds and mammals and fished. Women gathered seafood along the tidewaters and dove for shellfish.
Haush covered in grease as protection from the cold
Haush battle position
The Yaghan people were the most unusual tribe. In contrast to the other tribes who made use of animal furs to stay warm, the Yaghans wore little or no clothing. Luciano showed us several photographs as evidence, in which they looked to be completely naked but covered in a white paste. Almost like ghosts sitting in a canoe. The prevailing theory is that the Yaghan survived by evolving to a much higher metabolism than other humans. With a body temperature higher than ours, they could generate more body heat and stay warmer in cold climates. To deal with extreme conditions, they covered themselves with animal grease, most likely from sea lions. They built small fires and huddled in shelters configured with overturned canoes. As described by settlers, the climate consisted of 65 unpleasant days plus 300 days of rain per year.
Haush couple
In contrast to the Selknams, the Yahgans were short (men were ~ 5 ft. tall) with slight bodies. When Europeans arrived, they began to wear clothing…at the insistence of the Europeans. The British immigrants, driven by the search for gold and farming of sheep, initiated the demise of these people. Missionaries arrived to denigrate the Yahgan way of life, to ‘civilize the savages’, and to educate them to work on tasks unfamiliar to the Yahgans. Their objective was not to help them survive, but rather to make them ‘European-like.’ They exploited the Yahgans. Hunting and killing campaigns, similar to what the Selkmans experienced, relocation of many to designated reservation areas, intermarriage, and devastation by Europeans brought diseases, ultimately resulted in their disappearance. The only remaining full-blooded Yaghan alive today is Cristina Calderón. She lives in Puerto Williams, Chile. Chile named her a Living Human Treasure and put forth to UNESCO in 2003.
The fifth and last people were the Kaweshkar (a.k.a. Alaculufes), numbering about 5,000 when the Europeans began to settle their traditional land in the 1880s. They occupied the area along the western coast of Chile. They were nomadic, traveling by canoe and living off the bounty of the sea. Their longboats, as long as 30 feet, were made of strips of wood tied together. They were large enough to hold the whole family as well as their dog and possessions. The canoe carried a hearth in a clay pot, which they kept burning permanently.
Kaweshkar canoe and their belongings
Kaweshkar woman
Just as was the case with other tribes, settlers muscled them out of their traditional land. Seal lion hunters depleted their crucial source of food. The combination of disrupting their traditional lifestyles, abuse of alcohol provided by the settlers as payment for work and goods, and the introduction of contagious diseases, began to dwindle their numbers. In 1881, a group of Kaweshkar people was taken to Paris and the Berlin Zoo by anthropologists to exhibit like animals. The remains of several that died in Europe were held by the University of Zurich for further study. In the 1930s, the remaining Kaweshkar were relocated to Wellington Island, as their reservation. Given their maritime culture, they never farmed the land they were forced to occupy. Subsequently, they were moved further south, to Punta Arenas. Hmm, sounds like a familiar story: relocating American Indians several times – recall the Trail of Tears – thank you, President Andrew Jackson. Today, the Kaweshkar people are gone.
Yet another sad collateral on homo sapiens’ path through their existence.
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