The navigating skills of the Southern Tehuelches (Aonikenk)

The Tehuelche people were the original inhabitants of Patagonia, and they lived in the steppe, east of the Andean mountain range (to the west were the Chonos, Mapuches, and Huilliches in what is now Chile). They were the descendants of the ancient Patagonian Paleo-Indians. There are two versions about the origin of the name Tehuelche: one is that it comes from their words tehuel = “south” and chu = “land”, this suffix was later distorted by the Mapuche into che = “people”. The other is that the Mapuche called them chewuel = “surly”, “unsociable” and che = “people”, hence the “unfriendly people.”

We divide the Tehuelche people into two distinct groups, each with cultural and linguistic differences: the Northern Tehuelche (Günnuna Kenna or Gennakenk – which, in their language, meant “people”) and the Southern Tehuelche. The region located between the Senguer, Chubut, and Chico rivers was a flexible border between both groups.

Today's post will focus on the southermost of the Tehuelches and their navigation skills.

Southern Tehuelches and Selk'nam

The Southern Tehuelche were divided into two separate sub-groups, very similar except for their language: The northernmost were the Teushen (Boreal Southern Tehuelche), who lived in the north of central Patagonia, between the Santa Cruz and Chubut rivers. To the south were the Aonikenk or Aonek’enk (Austral Southern Tehuelche), which meant “People of the South.” They lived in the southern area, between the Santa Cruz River and the Strait of Magellan.

On the northern side of Tierra del Fuego Island were the Selk’nam (or Ona), who were “foot Indians” who never adopted an equestrian way of life because horses never reached their island before the arrival of the first white settlers. The Selk’nam were very closely related to the Tehuelche in culture and language; they had become separated from them when the sea level rose and flooded the Strait of Magellan, isolating them on Tierra del Fuego at the end of the last Ice Age.

The watercraft of the Aonikenk

Father Thomas Falkner (1707-1784) was an English Jesuit priest who lived in what is now Argentina in several Jesuit missions where he was in close contact with natives of different Patagonian tribes from 1730 until 1767, when the Spanish crown expelled the Jesuit order from South America. Upon returning to Britain in 1774, he wrote his book, Description of Patagonia, detailing his first-hand knowledge of the region. In it, he described how the natives crossed the Strait of Magellan:

"Tamu, the Yacana-cunnec Cacique, told me that they used a kind of float, with which they sometimes passed the Straits, and had communication with those of his nation". (p.92)

Falkner applied the name Yacanacunnec to what we now call the Aonikenk Tehuelche people. Perhaps "those of his nation" were the Fuegian Selk'nam natives, who were also part of the Chon native peoples, isolated on the Isla Grande, the main Tierra del Fuego Island after the last ice age.

Falkner added on p. 111 some more information:

"The last of the Tehuel nations are the Yacana-cunnees, which signifies foot-people ; for they always travel on foot, having no horses in their country. To the north, they border on the Sehuau-cunnees; to the west, on the Key-yus or Key-yuhues, from whom they are divided by a ridge ot mountains: to the east, they are bounded by the ocean; and to the south, by the islands of Tierra del Fuego or the South Sea. These Indians live near the sea, on both sides of the straits, and oftentimes make war with one another. They make use of light floats, like those of Chiloe to pass the straits."

Chiloe floats

Toribio Medina (Los aborijenes de Chile, 1882, p.188) describes the canoes and balsas of the Araucanians, which they used in rivers, lakes, and to cross between the mainland and Mocha Island (28 km - 17 mi.) They used rushes, reeds, puya, or straw, and tied them into bundles as floats (Read more about these vessels). They hollowed out canoes. Further north in the Peruvian and Chilean Atacama region the natives made floats using sealed sea wolf hides filled with air. But these were not hollow, you had to mount them.

However, I found a Source that mentions a native in Chiloe called Agustín Yapa who "crossed the channels to transport sheep in leather balsas" (Benjamín Vicuña, Catálogo de la biblioteca i manuscritos, 1886. p.44).

"Pelotas" or coracles

Tomás Harrington disagreed with Falkner. Harrington was an Argentine school teacher and ethnologist (1887-1967) who lived and worked in Patagonia, where he interviewed dozens of Tehuelche natives and compiled an extensive native vocabulary and listed many place names. In his Contribución al estudio del Indio Gününa Küne, Revista del Museo de La Plata, Vol.2 No.14 (new series), 1946, p.259) he noted that the name Yacana-cunes can be interpreted as "pedestrian people", and that the Keyus were the people who crossed the Strait. He added that it is impossible to define the racial origin of either group.

However, we have an eyewitness Antonio de Viedma (1742-1797), a Spanish naval officer who explored the coast of Patagonia and trekked inland discovering the lake that bears his name. In his diary (Diario de un viaje a la costa de la Patagonia, para reconocer los puntos en donde establecer poblaciones con una descripción de la naturaleza de los terrenos, de sus producciones y habitantes; desde el puerto de Santa Elena hasta la boca del Estrecho de Magallanes) he recounts his exploration from San Juliá to Lake Videma during which he had to cross the Chico River close to Corpen (map). On the way back the river was flooded:

"Day 27
At 8 a.m. we set off, and at 12 p.m. we reached the banks of the Rio Chico de Santa Cruz. Since the river was very high, the indian Ocopán decided not to ford it; so we stopped at a place they call Chonqueyr.
Day 28
At 5:30 in the morning, the indian Ocopán and Don León de Rosas, who had attempted to cross the river, succeeded and informed me. I intended to cross as they had, but upon reaching a channel, the stable hand couldn't restrain the horses, which bolted. So I ordered the pilot to cross and tell Julián to send me some swimming Indians so as not to risk my life or leave without gathering all the horses. He did so and found Julián at a place they call Quilion, from where he sent me three swimming Indians, equipped with hides and sticks to form a ball [in the original "pelota"] They arrived where I was at sunset and brought guanaco meat for us to eat.
Day 29
At 8:00 a.m., having prepared to cross the river, and feeling that the "pelota" that the indians were mkaking wasn't right, I ordered them to leave it, and that once they were on the other side of the river, I would try to cross with my horse. This was done, and we all crossed without the slightest incident; and continuing our journey, we arrived at Oenna at midday, where I found the pilot returning to join me, and some tents belonging to Chief Julián, whom I had sent for the same purpose; and here we spent the night."

Viedma ratifies the use of floats mentioned by Falkner.

Fifty-one years later Captain FitzRoy and Charles Darwin (the scientist who proposed the theory of evolution through natural selection) left the HMS Beagle to explore the Santa Cruz River from its mouth. They almost reached Lake Argentino before turning back due to lack of supplies. In his description of their journey (where the boat had to be hoisted by the sailors against the river's stron current), FitzRoy mentions the natives and their floats (FitzRoy, R. 1839. Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the second expedition, 1831-36, under the command of Captain Robert Fitz-Roy, R.N. London: Henry Colburn. See p. 344)

"...we arrived at the spot whence the smoke had issued, but saw no human beings: though marks of very recent fire, and numerous tracks of feet upon a soft muddy place at the side of the river, showed that a party of Indians had lately crossed over, and a smoke rising at some distance on the southern shore, pointed out where they were gone. At this spot there was about an acre of good pasture land, by the water side: and the breadth of the river itself was something less than usual, reasons which had induced the natives to select it as a crossing place*. To pass a river running at the rate of six or seven miles an hour, and about two hundred yards in width, can be no easy task to women and children. But as we saw many prints of very small feet on the muddy bank, both women and children must have crossed at this place with the men. How did they get over? there is no wood, neither are there rushes with which they might make balsas†. Perhaps some of the women and children were put into rough, coracle-like boats, made of hides‡, and towed across by the horses, holding by whose tails the men swam and perhaps many of the women. This method of holding by the tail, while swimming, is said to be better than resting a hand upon the horse's neck and holding by the mane. None of the Indians sit upon their horses while swimming."
* Marked 'Indian Pass' on the plan.
† Floats or rafts.
‡ "Me envió tres indios nadadores, provisto de cueros y palos para formar una pelota." (Diario de Viedma, p. 58.)

We know tht FitzRoy had read Falkner, and since he also quotes Videma, he probably imagined the coracles based on this information.

Argentine explorer and scientist Francisco Moreno (1852-1919) during his own exploration of the Santa Cruz River, in 1876-77, which reached Lake Argentino, cited FitzRoy's comments and added his own rmarks (See Viaje a la Patagonia Austral. Vol. 1, 1879. See p.256.):

"There is no doubt about the accuracy of these words; the place lends itself easily to crossing, for even though at this point the river is narrower than in other parts and runs at a speed of seven miles per hour, the undulation formed by its course and the disposition of the terrain make it preferable to other points. The Indians also confirm the assertion of the English admiral and have told me that before Pavon Island was populated they crossed the river at this point and at other places located further inland where, although the river is always too deep, as happens at the point I am concerned with, to allow passage on firm foot, they always find more or less ease in crossing it.
They carried it out, and even today they sometimes do, on rafts made of branches and tree trunks that the river carries in its upper course, and when trunks are lacking, as happens here in Chickerook Aiken, they built such rafts, although smaller, with the poles of their tents. On them they placed the small children and the few belongings; the women and men held onto the ends of the poles submerged in the water and swam alongside the raft. This was pulled by a horse, to whose tail it was tied, but before they had horses, the strongest swimmers of the Indians were in charge of steering it. This means of crossing the rivers is not without dangers, and it is frequent that one or more of the indigenous people drown; however, I have sometimes used it with excellent results in my exploration of the Limay and Negro Rivers. Our companion Isidoro assures me that he also knows that this point has been a crossing point for Indians. [a ford]"

This ford was located at Chickerook-Aiken (see approx. location in Google maps).

Allen Francis Gardiner (1794–1851) was a British Royal Navy officer and missionary, who starved to death in Tierra del Fuego, after an unsuccessful attempt to set up a mission among the Yaghans or Yamana. In 1842, he left us a description of a now unknown tribe, the Tachwell (see my post on them) who lived in the Southwestern Andes and frequented the Strait of Magellan. In 1842 Gardiner wrote (Accounts and Papers. COLONIES. Session 2 February 24 August 1843. 33. Vol XXXIII. House of Commons papers, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. HMSO, 1843) about them, and one part of his description mentions the use of hide-covered canoes to cross the Patagonian rivers:

"The district by the Tatchwell is wet and rainy and heavily timbered with trees of great size, their tents, dress, and stature is similar to that of the other Patagonian tribes; they have, however, canoes, but these are only employed for crossing rivers, and are merely a light frame covered with guanaco skins. They use no paddles but are towed across by their horses swimming before with a lasso attached to their tails."

Benjamin Bourne in "The Captive in Patagonia" (p.133) describes "boats" used by the Aonikenk to cross rivers. He had been sailing from Connecticut to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush and while stopping for supplies on the northern shores of the Strait of Magellan was taken captive by the Aonikenk and held prisoner. After three months he managed to escape when he saw a boat with a party of white people. They took him to the island on the Santa Cruz River, rescuing him.

Below is his description of native navigation and a plate from his book:

"We moved the next day in a northerly direction, and struck the river Santa Cruz, encamping about an eighth of a mile from its marshy banks...
Three or four days were passed in suspense, which was at last terminated by taking our line of march down the river. We halted at noon, at a point where the banks sloped gently to the water's edge, on either side of the deep and narrow channel. Active preparations were here commenced for crossing. Part of the horses were driven across the river, whilst a portion of the tribe were occupied in building boats to ferry their families and goods across. Their boats are constructed after a simple fashion. A quantity of bushes are cut and dragged down to the margin of the water. They take four tent-stakes, and lay them so as to enclose an area eight feet square, lashing them firmly together at the four corners. Four Indians then raise the stakes from the ground, while others place the skin covering of the tent over the frame, allowing it to sag down three or four feet. The edges of the skin are brought over the stakes, and fastened on the inside. The bushes, made ready for the purpose, are placed within, tops downward, round the entire circumference, and secured to the stakes, till the boat is completely timbered up. The bushes keep the skin distended, and give to the vessel an oval shape, so that, though square at the top, it bears a striking resemblance to a large iron pot. Its length and its breadth of beam are of course equal. When completed, it is firmly lashed from stem to sternpost, and from side to side, with a lariat, or green hide rope, forty feet long, to keep it from spreading or racking. I had no hand in modelling this witch of the wave, but, like an apprentice, did as I was ordered in forwarding the structure, and, when nothing else was required, "held on to the slack." It was at last completed, like the temple of Solomon, without the sound of axe or hammer; neither bolts, trenails nor caulking-iron, were required. We carried the barge down, and launched her in the stream. Two paddles were made by lashing two bladebones of the guanaco to sticks. Squaws, pappooses and baggage, were stowed away, till the boat was laden to the water's edge. I was directed to take passage with the family and household effects of the chief, and seated myself in the centre of the closely-packed craft. One end of a lariat was fastened to the boat, and the other tied to the tail of a horse. A savage mounted, with one rein attached to the wooden bit on the up-stream side. Two others took the oars, one on each side, and a squaw was stationed on the top-gallant forecastle for the purpose of singing, to insure good luck. All is ready. The old horse wades till the depth of water compels him to swim, and the boat is pushed off. The rider floats on the horse's back, kicking the water with his feet, holding the rein in one hand, and grasping the mane with the other. "Chew! chew!" he shouts, at the top of his voice. The black swan in the forecastle opens her capacious mouth and sings, "Yek yah, youri miti! yek yah, youri miti!" The two oarsmen dig away with might and main, while the younger fry swell the chorus with a "Yah! yah! yah!" The boat brings some heavy lurches to the windward, then yaws off to leeward; all owing to those lubberly oarsmen not meeting her with the helm in season. At length, after innumerable shiftings, we reached the opposite shore, and waded up on dry land. Several boats were constructed after the same unique model, and succeeded in crossing safely."

Ferrying the Santa Cruz. Bourne

So, all of these people confirm the use of guanaco hide-covered floats.

Across the Strait of Magellan

An interesting paper (Franklin, W.L. (2022) Guanaco colonisation of Tierra del Fuego Island from mainland Patagonia: Walked, swam, or by canoe? Geo: Geography and Environment, 9, e00110. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.110) explores why does Tierra del Fuego only have one large mammal, the Guanaco, and no rhea or pumas. The answer according to Franklin is that a large eruption by Hudson Volcano some 7,750 years ago wiped out the natives and large terrestrial fauna in the southern tip of Patagnoia, and that "Neither terrestrial vertebrates nor man were replenished from the adjacent mainland for 1000 years because the Strait of Magellan was a complete biogeographical barrier. Guanacos on Tierra del Fuego have lower genetic diversity compared with the mainland, suggesting it is a younger population. Empirical evidence and pivotal events of Patagonia's prehistory support one of three hypotheses: guanacos were introduced to Tierra del Fuego by early Holocene, guanaco-dependent, indigenous peoples from the mainland who repopulated Tierra del Fuego utilising the newly invented, skilfully crafted, seaworthy bark canoe."

Below is an image from Franklin's paper depicting the natives carrying guanaco across the Strait of Magellan.

Franklin therefore suggests " Guanacos and Fuegian dogs to Tierra del Fuego... by bark canoe. I propose that canoeists when they recolonised Tierra del Fuego in the Middle Holocene selectively introduced two ‘utility species’ of mammals to Tierra del Fuego that were of direct survival value for the existence of a terrestrial hunter-gatherer culture on the island: the guanaco because of its importance as a familiar and sustained source of food and skins (clothing and shelters), and the domestic Fuegian dog in a mutualistic relationship for its companionship, protection and hunting abilities..."

The bark canoe is what the Yamana or Yaghan people used until their demise in the late 1800s. However, the Selk'nam Fuegians were not known for owning boats or bark canoes. Their territory was the open grasslands and tundra, bogs and the fringe of the Fuegian Forests, on the north side of Tierra del Fuego. They seldom ventured into the woods of the Southern Andean ridges. They were pedestrian, land people, not sailors or canoe people like the Yamanas or their neighbors, the Alakaluf of the Western and Northwestern Tierra del Fuego canals and fjords. The Alakaluf used dugout canoes made from logs.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Americas: the language diversity problem

Ten years ago, I posted on the high diversity of languages in America, and a recent paper has added some interesting information on the subject.

The paper was published last month (June 28, 2025). It confirms the diversity and its uniqueness among the languages around the World. Furthermore, the authors can't explain why (see the bold text that I highlighted in the quote below):

"Linguistically, the Americas remain one of the most diverse parts of the world, despite the loss of many languages since European colonization (Campbell 2024). Within the Americas, the diversity of South America exceeds that of North America as measured both by the number of distinct languages as well as by the number of singular linguistic lineages (“language families”). Within South America, in turn, the Amazonian lowlands are generally more diverse than the Andes and the Southern Cone, though the uneven demographic and cultural impact of European conquest may have contributed to accentuating the observed diversity cline. About 60% of South American lineages are isolates (Seifart and Hammarström 2017), that is, consist of only one extant member whose ties with related lineages were severed at a point of time that exceeds the time horizon that can be reached by historical linguistic methods (under ideal conditions ~8000 years). This indicates high rates of linguistic diversification and cladogenesis already in an early phase of human presence. The causes of this remain poorly understood. South American languages are also characterized by extreme heterogeneity concerning their evolved sound systems and grammars—a third parameter of linguistic diversity that contributes to the overall complexity of the linguistic situation in the continent."

The paper, explored genetic and language similarities, and as you'd expect, they found "strong similarities in language and morphology between the Selk'nam and Qawaskar", the boat-people that lived in the seas of Tierra del Fuego and SW Chilean Patagonia. They were the human beings who lived furthest south in the whole World!

The Mapuche have an Amazon-Chaco origin

The paper also found affinities between Chacoan people (called Quom) and the Mapuches of Chile.

In my book, I mentioned many myths and legends of the Mapuches that are similar to myths of the natives that lived in Southern Amazonia, and the Chaco region (the Guaraní people). But the homeland of the Mapuche and the Chaco-Amazon region are nearly 1,500 miles (2,400 km) apart, with the Andes rising 6,000 m (20,000 ft.) high between them.

I also wrote a post on the subject see: Mapuche natives and their possible link to the Guarani.

The Mapuche don't like the idea of being considered as "recent" arrivals in Chile, migrants from the central South American jungles. They prefer to believe they have always lived in Chile. However, the facts are quite the opposite. This paper says:

"The Qom and Mapuche exhibit the strongest genetic similarities among the groups we studied. The Qom are a lowland group from the southern Chaco, while the Mapuche historically inhabited northern Patagonia, later expanding to the Pampas. Recent genetic studies on the Mapuche suggest that their genetic profile reflects an ancient ancestry linked to early migration waves (SNA2), followed by prolonged isolation before recent gene flow from the Central Andes (Arango-Isaza et al. 2023; Capodiferro et al. 2021). In fact, mtDNA affinities between Chaco and Andean populations have led some scholars to suggest a shared evolutionary history (Cabana et al. 2006; Russo et al. 2018). This is consistent with previous genetic studies, which have reported close biological affinities between the Qom and Mapuche (Cabana et al. 2006; Demarchi and García Ministro 2008; Sevini et al. 2013) despite the fact that they are not geographic neighbors."

Read the paper online: Menéndez, L. P., and M. Urban. 2025. “ Tracing Human Diversity in South America's Southern Cone: Linguistic, Morphometric, and Genetic Perspectives.” American Journal of Biological Anthropology 187, no. 3: e70077. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.70077.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Similar myths between Patagonians and Australians

Some Patagonian Natives' myths that are very similar to those found in Australia, among the Aboriginal people.

As I mention further down, the human mind whether modern or archaic, Aboriginal, Chinese or Patagonian has a rather limited set of emotions or feelings to deal with. So fear is usually elicited by means of monsters, man-eating ogres, creatures from the dark, living-dead and son on. It should not surprise us to find giants, dwarves,trolls, lake creatures and all kinds of monsters that have their equivalent in different parts of the world. They were all "invented" by the "limited" human mind.

Having said this, people with a common origin share traditions, which in the very distant past were the glue that kept clans or tribe together. They were passed on from father to son, mother do daughter over countless generations and have survived until this day. A clear example is Little Red Riding Hood, which struck fear into us when we were children: a man-eating (or better said, a "granny-eating") wolf in a forest! How many of us have seen a real live wolf? Very few. Maybe on a documentary on Alaska or Canada, but never in the wild.

But the story is based on real facts: forests are dangerous, wolves exist and careless children may fall prey to them (or other strangers) or worse, also cause trouble to their kin.

So below are some of these shared myths:

Tehuelche native myths from Patagonia

I copy pasted from my book, I have added some comments to give context, in brackets "[]":

"Yiakelon she- ­ghosts. These ghost­ women dwelled among the cracks of the cliffs and escarpments and bear an amazing similarity to the Australian Aboriginal belief in ‘Mimi’, who were tall slim mischievous beings that also lived among the rocky crags. The Aboriginals believed that before their arrival to Australia, Mimi had human shape and taught men how to hunt, cook, talk, sing and also, to paint the rocks (note the extraordinary similarity with Elal). Once again we have a myth relating both cultures, Australian and Patagonian; if it is a coincidence, it is striking...

"...The creature described by Falkner [comment: among the Guarani natives in Paraguay] is surprisingly similar to the Iemisch [among the Tehuelche of Patagonia]; no wonder Musters quickly identified the Patagonian water tiger with it. A Guaraní legend about Guarán,the native warrior who slayed Yaguarú, provides some interesting details about the beast, not only did it live in a cave by the river bank but it also had a strong tail and a taste for women’s flesh, it was also foul smelling just like Ayayema, Kawtcho, Mapinguari and the dwarfish Chupacabras. [several Amerindian monsters]
A Pan-Gondwanan beast? A similar mythical creature, an amalgam of giant otter and feline, is said to live in New Zealand, the ‘Waitoreke’ —Maori for “water animal with spurs”. The Australian Aboriginals also had their equivalent water monster, the foul smelling ‘Bunyip’. This may reveal once again possible ancient cultural ties between Australoids and southern South American natives, or maybe the repetition of similar themes across dissimilar and totally unrelated human cultures; perhaps we humans have a limited repertoire of fears and they tend to crop up again and again in our myths. It may also indicate that the former super continent of Gondwana was home to a strange water creature...

Selk'nam myths from Tierra del Fuego

"... at the dawn of time, during the mythical era of the ‘Hoowin’, the legendary ancestors of the Selk’nam [lived]. Once again, this bears a striking similarity with the Australian Aboriginals’ belief that all things began with the Dreamtime; a sacred era out of time in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed the creation."

The Hoowin was a time that preceded us, the world was peopled by the Sun, Moon, stars, snow, wind, sea, all of them very powerful witches. Then the modern world formed, many of these creatures turned into animals, mountains, lakes and the sea... humans were created out of this mysterious ancestral Hoowin world.

Hoowin is very similar to the Dreamtime, an "everywhen", a "time out of time" which was peopled by the ancestors of Australian Aboriginals, who had supernatural abilities and lived in this Dream Time that preceded creation...

"Fascinatingly, the Australian Aboriginal people also have legends about wild hairy pigmies that they called Gubba; these are very similar to the Fuegian Yosi in appearance and size, being barely one meter tall (3 ft 4 in).
...The Aboriginals, besides ‘Gubba’ that was akin to the Fuegian Yosi, also recognized another large wild hominid, the ‘Yowie’ or “great hairy man” that killed and ate people. Some Australian researchers such as Gilroy, Cropper and Healy believe that Yowie is a Homo erectus, a human ancestor which became extinct worldwide when modern man, Homo sapiens, moved out of Africa. According to them, it somehow managed to survive in Australia long enough to coexist with men.In the Australian case, it is reasonable to assume H. erectus habitation prior to modern humans, because its remains ve been found close by, in neighboring Indonesia. This could imply that the Patagonians’ ancestors, the Australoids, could have encountered H. erectus in Austronesia and brought it with them as their ‘hairy men’ myths when migrating to America..."

I also explained the Austronesian hypothesis as follows:

"The Austronesian hypothesis
All these Patagonians, were quite different from the rest of South American natives; this has been revealed by a study of their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). This type of DNA is maternally inherited and allows researchers to trace the maternal lineage back in time and to establish connections between groups of people based on differences in their mtDNA. mtDNA taken from skeletons of the now extinct Yagan, Selk’nam and Alakaluf populations as well as Aonikenk Tehuelche show that they, from a genetic viewpoint, were different from all other American natives (including the Mapuche in northern Patagonia). It is noteworthy that the skeletal remains of Fuegians, the Patagonian natives and their Paleo­Indian ancestors also depart from the typical Mongoloid pattern found in other American Indian (Amerindian) groups such as the Mapuche. Both lines of evidence suggest that there may have been more than one migratory wave of Asian people ancestral to the American natives. It may also be possible that the ancestors of all the Patagonian PaleoIndians came in an independent migration long before the arrival of the ‘Clovis people’. The Clovis had entered the continent through Bering Strait via Alaska about 13,500 years BP. They are considered as the Americas’ first inhabitants (hence the ‘Clovis­ first’ model) yet, southern South America, which according to the Clovis first model should be the last part of the continent to be occupied by humans, seems to have sites as old as or even older than the Clovis sites found in North America. Human remains discovered in Brazil show a very strong resemblance to modern South Pacific people, suggesting that America was first colonized by the generalized human (Homo sapiens) population that inhabited East Asia in the Late Pleistocene. These people arrived in America in very ancient times long before the Mongolid morphology of the forbearers of the Clovis had evolved.
They may also be the ancestors of the southern Patagonian Paleo Indians, and their different racial origin and cultural background may have a bearing on the myths and legends of their Tehuelche and Fuegian descendants. It is extremely likely that these first Americans brought with them their own set of ancient tales about strange beings, and gradually adapted them to their new home. There are, as we will see, surprising coincidences between Patagonian and Austronesian myths. It was these original people who forged legends that even today pervade throughout Patagonia."

Quotes from A. Whittall, Monsters of Patagonia, Zagier & Urruty.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2015 by Austin Whittall © 

"Yosi", Some possible scientific explanations - Last Part (3)

 

In our previous posts we have mentioned Yosi the Fuegian dwarf that terrorized the Selk'nam natives. In today's post, the third and last of our Yosi series, we will try to find some scientific explanation for this strange creature.

a. Humans. We are monsters

The legends regarding sexually aggressive incubus-like dwarves like Yosi can be explained either by the victims experiencing walking dreams, sleep paralysis or by nocturnal arousal and orgasm. These guilt-producing situations could be explained away using the notion of a lecherous creature that assaulted the victim and provoked such situations.

Another valid explanation involves monsters of a different kind; perhaps the nocturnal molester was a real person such as a friend or a relative. The victims may have found it easier to explain the attack as supernatural rather than confront the idea of being raped by someone in a position of trust.

b. The Patagonian monkey

Although we could assume that some archaic dwarf race extended far south all the way into Patagonia, there is no proof beyond the myths and tales of the Tehuelche natives and the Fuegians to support this idea.

An alternate explanation for Yosi is Father Molina’s belief that the creature really existed and was a monkey. The problem is that, nowadays there are no monkeys in Patagonia; the closest are confined to the jungles in northern Argentina, over 3.300 km (2,000 mi.) away.

The only Patagonian creature that bears the name “monkey”, is the “monito del monte” (small forest monkey) a tiny -less than 10 cm (4 in.) long- arboreal marsupial (Dromiciops gliroides). They are a relict species that lives in the Patagonian woods and are the world’s southernmost marsupials, ancestor to all other marsupial groups including Australian kangaroos.

Nevertheless, 20 million years ago (Ma.), a now extinct New World monkey species lived in Patagonia, the Homunculus patagonicus. It is the ancestral species for all modern American monkeys.[1]

More recently, 16 Ma., lived the Killikaike blakei, a species of anthropoid related to modern capuchin monkeys. It had a large brain, was capable of a complex social behavior and like the capuchins was able to handle tools and had superior cognitive abilities.[2][3][4]

Ckull of Killikaike blakei. From [5].

These early primates later migrated to the subtropical forests further north when the Andes surged higher some 5 to 12 Ma. altering their habitat by blocking the humid western winds. These new arid conditions forced the Southern beech forests, which had reached the Atlantic shores, to retreat towards the Andes shaping a drier Patagonia, similar to how it is today.

Did the Patagonian monkeys die out with this change or did they somehow manage to survive in the dwindling forests and later gave birth to the mannikin myths?

Molina believed that Yosi was a contemporary relative of the H. patagonicus, and had only been recently exterminated by the Haush and Selk’nam natives. Unfortunately no remains of the Yosi ape have been yet found in Tierra del Fuego to prove Molina’s theory. This lack of Yosi fossils could be due to many factors such as their intelligence (not easily trapped in peat bogs), the harsh damp Fuegian climate which could impede fossilisation, and last but not least, lack of funding and research in the field, something not uncommon in South American paleontology.

Another stumbling block is that all American monkeys are small, arboreal and have prehensile tails; in this they differ from Old World apes that walk on two feet. Therefore Yosi as a bipedal tail-less homunculus cannot be associated to any extant American monkey.

Setting aside scientific rigor we can speculate that some branch of the New World Primates could have evolved leading to a tiny bipedal hominid that was later wiped out when modern men arrived in America. This idea may not be as far fetched as it seems; a similar process actually happened at Madagascar Island, where the tiny “lesser Primates” or Lemurids evolved just before the arrival of man 2,000 years ago into large semi-terrestrial ape-like creatures resembling gorillas which disappeared when humans arrived.

Could the New World Primates have evolved in a similar way, acquiring Hominid adaptations (i.e. lack of tail, bipedalism)? Perhaps, but this idea is just wild speculation, and we have no proof to support it.

c. Culture clash

A more plausible explanation regarding Yosi stems from the fact that both Tonelli and Molina mention Punta María as a place where many Yosi used to live. Punta María is a Point on the Atlantic sea coast of Tierra del Fuego Island. The area is marks the boundary between the arid Magellanic steppe and the Andean forest. It is a transition zone where trees clump together in small groves that gradually increase in density and height from north to south and inland, away from the coast. We know that the area was inhabited by the Selk’nam when the Europeans arrived; yet Molina places the ancient Haush there, confirming that it was originally peopled by Haush people who were later displaced by the Selk’nam towards the inhospitable southeastern tip of the island.

This opens the possibility that Yosi were actually humans who acquired dwarf status when beaten by the Selk’nam.

The Yosi wore guanaco skins, had wives, children, looked like men, bore weapons and tried to kill Selk’nam. This description (except for the small size) is applicable to a Haush hunter ambushing the encroaching Selk’nam.

We can picture a Haush man, quietly stalking a lonely Selk’nam in the forest, ready to kill him to defend his family and his dwindling territory. This would indubitably instill fear in the Selk’nam, who would then avoid the forests and leave the Haush alone.

Perhaps Yosi (i.e. Haush) did not light fires to avoid detection by its mortal enemies.

The flaw in this theory is that Molina clearly stated that the ancient Haush also hunted Yosi to eat them at Punta María. If this was so, Haush and Yosi are indeed different creatures.

Closing Comments

Unfortunately we will never know for sure which is the truth because both groups, Haush and Selk’nam disappeared during the first years of the XXth century and their ancient knowledge and beliefs are now merely words written in books and not real memories in the minds of living people.
Never again will their stories be told and retold from father to son, grandmother to granddaughter. They are lost forever with the ghosts of the dead Fuegians. Yosi too disappeared with them, but who knows, perhaps the tiny ape-like being still gathers branches and casts its spells in the gloomy forests wondering where its mortal enemies have gone.

See previous posts:
Part 2 Here.
Part 1 Here.

Bibliography.

[1] Hartwig, W., (2002). The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press. pp. 162+
[2] Tejedor, M., et al., (2006-03-27). New primate genus from the Miocene of Argentina. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 103: 5437. doi:10.1073/pnas.0506126103.
[3] BBC Mundo Ciencia 30.03.2006. Un mono avanzado, pero cabezón.
[4] Tejedor, M., Tauber, A., Rosenberger, A., Swisher, C., Palacios, M. New primate genus from the Miocene of Argentina. Published online before print March 27, 2006, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0506126103 PNAS April 4, 2006 vol. 103 no. 14 5437-5441.
[5] Brooklyn College Anthropologist Identifies New Prehistoric Monkey.



Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

The Fuegian homunculus or “Yosi”- Part 1

 

Tiny man-like creatures crop up as a common feature of almost all human cultures; the Patagonian natives were no exception to this rule and they also believed in tiny mannikins or dwarves; but these were not kind smiling fellows, they were fierce, lecherous, aggressive and even murderous elves.

In this post we will take a look at the Fuegian dwarf called Yosi (also spelt Yóshil, Joshil and even Joši).

The Selk’nam natives of Tierra del Fuego Island believed that it was a very dangerous creature.

Yosi lived deep inside the thickest woods,[1] never leaving them. It was nimble and ran away when the natives shot arrows at it. It had a shrilly shout like that of a lion, and would throw stones or sticks at men to fend them off.

Mostly a loner, it sometimes appeared in groups of three or even four individuals, ready to cause trouble.[2]

Lucas Bridges, whom we have already mentioned as the first “European” to be born and bred on the island, described Yosi as a “material spirit” implying that it was not ethereal but real. It was man-like and even had a wife and children, yet possessed a vicious nature:

He cuts and gathers straw and wood for a fire he can never light. He appears with most frequency to the lonely hunter who spends his night by the fire […] cases have been mentioned of lonely vagabonds that were found dead and mutilated by “Yosi”.[3]

Bridges also noted its rapid disappearance in the early years of the XX^th century when faced with the encroaching white men and vanishing Selk’nam natives:

For some unknown reason their number has decreased greatly in a few generations, and now there are rarely found, except of the most miserable and nearly impenetrable places.[3]

He had an encounter with one while traveling with three natives; the group had camped in the forest when suddenly:

The creaking of the tiny branches in the frozen air convinced my companions that “Yosi” was out there somewhere. They seemed very nervous, and when irreflexively I made fun of their superstitions, one of them scolded me saying that “if I was alone and met a ‘Yosi’ sitting on the other side of the fire, I would not be such a braggart”.[3]

At the turn of the XIX^th century, the Salesian Order had built a mission in Tierra del Fuego and unsuccessfully tried to save the few remaining Selk’nam from white men’s alcohol and illnesses. In the process they learnt the native’s language and beliefs, recording their lore about Yosi. One of them, Argentine Salesian priest Manuel Jesús Molina (1905-1979), was convinced that Yosi was a real creature and not just a myth.

He held the unorthodox view that Yosi was a species of ape, which he named “Fuegian monkey”; he believed that they were still alive somewhere in southern Patagonia, having shared their habitat with the native Fuegians since their arrival at Tierra del Fuego twelve thousand years ago.[4][5]

Molina described “Yóshil” (as he called it) as an “antropomorph monkey species, tail-less, with a lichen-like yellow-green color, about 80 cm (31 in.) tall […] bipedal”. He added that it carried a knotty stick or a stone and could be found during the day sitting on tree forks.[5]

As proof of their existence, he mentions a place name close to Estancia Catalina, known as “Yohyaltal”, which in Haush language meant “Yosi forest”.[5]

He made out depictions of these monkeys in the humanoid figures painted by the Paleo-Indians on the rocks of Gualichu cave at Lake Argentino (50°17’ S, 72°10’ W) and at the Cueva de las manos (Cave of Hands - 47°09’ S, 70°39’ W) by the Pinturas River. Among these paintings are some depicting four legged beings with a bulky body and long thin fingers -or sharp claws-; they are shown in different positions, perhaps to suggest nimbleness and quick ape-like movements.[5]

Molina published a paper and gave it a scientific name: Fuegopithecus paakensis inspired on that of his Haush informant named “Pa:ka”. He also recorded Yosi’s particular behavior, and in agreement with Bridges noted that “these apes, imitating man, gathered dry wood, piling it up and sitting beside it, without setting it ablaze”.[6]

This lack of fire building ability points at a creature that is definitively non-human and reinforces the “ape” hypothesis.

Another Salesian priest, Antonio Tonelli, who had lived with the Selk’nam at the Mission (1910), recorded a frightening encounter between a native youth named Čikiól and a (as he spells it) Joši who had been stalking him during his sleep until Čikiól awoke and saw it:

The Joši then threw a stick at him but missed and ran away. The Indian then arranged his guanaco skin blanket on the ground so as to simulate a sleeping man, and hid behind a tree trunk. The Joši returned and […] when he reached close to the guanaco skin, the Indian shot an arrow at it piercing its chest. The Joši dropped what it carried in its hand, screamed like a seal and dropped dead.[7]

Unlike Molina father Tonelli did not believe that Yosi was as a real creature, he considered them murderous incorporeal spirits. He penned the Selk’nam’s description of Joši:

Joši Spirits have a face like an Indian […] they dress in guanaco or fox skins like Indians and hold sticks or stones in their hands. They are many bad ones because they try to kill men, and the Indians fear them a lot.[7]

Yosi - The Fuegian Monkey. Copyright © 2009 by Austin Whittall

He too noted their gradual disappearance and offered the natives’ explanation “In ancient times there were many Joši, but recently there are many less because they fear gunshots”.[7]

According to Tonelli a young native boy named Kaukokiól had told him that Yosi used to visit his tribe’s encampment near Lake Fagnano (54°36’ S, 67°16’ W) and that in the past there were also many Yosi in the region of Cape María, by the sea. However “the ancient Indians killed nearly all of them. Those now wandering through the forests by Lake Fagnano […] are the sons of the Joši of Cape María”.[5] Suggesting that they moved away from the coast, inland to the secluded forests by Lake Fagnano (see our post on Fagnano’s lake creature Fañanito).

Their relative abundance at Cape María was also noted by Father Molina who added that in times of hunger “the ancient Aus [Haush] had to kill many Yoshil, the Fuegian monkey, to feed themselves”.[6]

Continues tomorrow. See next post (Part 2) Here.

Bibliography.

[1] Colombres, A., and Scafati, L., (2000). Seres mitológicos argentinos. B. Aires: Emecé. pp. 284.
[2] Keller, C., (1947). Dios en Tierra del Fuego; Mitos y cuentos de los Sélcnam. Santiago: Zig-Zag. pp. 79+
[3] Bridges, L., (2008). Op. Cit. pp. 398.
[4] Molina, M., (1976). Patagónica: Prehistoria, tradiciones y mitologías. Roma: Ed. LAS. pp. 193.
[5] Molina, M., (1973). El yóshil o mono fueguino. Karukinká. B. Aires. v.1:10-14.
[6] Molina, M., (1976). Ibid. pp. 43.
[7] Tonelli, A., (1926). Grammatica e Glossario della Lingua Degli Ona- Selknam della Terra Del Fuoco. Šelkám Čan K’ar-Mán. Torino: Societá Editrice Internazionale. Parte Seconda, Religione.



Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Patagonian Bigfoot?

 

I have been asked if there is a "Bigfoot" in Patagonia.

The correct answer is: no. Bigfoot is a North American creature. But, Patagonia does have its share of strange beings (dwarfs, monsters, the gigantic "Patagons") and these include "wild men" or hominids.

In today's post we will look into the Patagonian "Bigfoot".

The Fuegian Yagans feared several man-like "ogres" that lived in the forests: the Selk'nam's one was Hashi, very similar to the Yagan's "Hannush", also known as "wild men".

Reverend Thomas Bridges described Hannush as:

a sort of demented or wild man of the forests […] similar to man in shape, living alone or in groups, but without wife or children; they were always stalking, trying to come upon men, women or children to kill them.[1][2]

A very credible witness mentions them; English naturalist Charles Darwin (of evolutionary fame) who in 1833 visited Tierra del Fuego aboard Captain Robert FitzRoy’s H.M.S. “Beagle”. Darwin wrote:

What the "bad wild men" were, has always appeared to me most mysterious […] I should have thought that they were thieves who had been driven from their tribes; but other obscure speeches made me doubt this; I have sometimes imagined that the most probable explanation was that they were insane.[3]

FitzRoy also wrote about the “wild men”, pointing out their “black” color: “A great black man is supposed to be always wandering about the woods and mountains […] who cannot be escaped”.[4]

He also reported that among the Chono his pilot Mr. William Low recorded that: “[They] believe in an evil spirit, called Yaccy-ma, who they think is able to do all kinds of mischief, cause bad weather, famine, illness, &c.: he is supposed to be like an immense black man”.[4]

Could these evil dark (i.e. black) men be some kind of fur clad hominid?

“Mwono” the southern abominable snow man.

The Yagan’s neighbors, the Alakaluf, feared Mwono, a “snow man”. Theirs was a land of jagged fjords and islands where the glaciers reach the sea calving icebergs into treacherous waters. Mwono reigned supreme inhabiting “the summits of the mountains and glaciers” where his tracks could be found.[5]

Chilean ethnolinguist Oscar Aguilera believes that this “‘snow man’ is a fabulous and mythical animal that the [Alakaluf] say lives in the glaciers and whose footprints they say that they have seen”.[6] What these prints look like, unfortunately, no one knows.

Potentially dangerous, its reclusive nature made it quite harmless; Mwono was a reclusive and peaceful being that would only hurt those who dared to enter his territory.[7]

Further north, the Mapuche believed in several gigantic beings; one was the Trauko -do not mistake with Chiloé’s Trauco dwarf which we will describe in a future post- which dwelled along the banks of Collón Curá River -stone mask in Mapuche language- in Neuquén (40°00’ S, 70°49’ W). This was a monster, a “terrible giant, man eater” described as hairy and having “a very long beard and his hair that seemed like rush stalks were fire red color”.[8]

Their myths also included the Chilludo, Carcancho and Huitanalhue.

The Chilludo is a very large and hairy creature. A bearded “bogey man”. Ape-like and covered with a long sheep-like fleece, it may be frightening, but is said to be harmless. It can be found in the isolated mountain regions of northern Patagonia in Chile and in western Neuquén province, Argentina.[9]

The Carcancho. These hairy men led a solitary existence in the mountains and meadows feeding on tubers. They could measure up to 2 m (6 ft. 7 in.) tall in the mountains, but were dwarfish (1 m – 3.3 ft.) in the lowlands, where they lived burrowing underground. This may indicate that they were two different kinds of being or that perhaps they were not men but some kind of wild animal.

They walked in the snow and their large foot-prints were the only clues of their existence (exactly like the Mwono but 2.000 km further towards the north - 1,240 mi.).[10]

Huitranalhue is a kind of undead, a zombie, described as a big man, which like a vampire attacked people to drink their blood or eat their flesh.[11] Its name means “alien ghost” (huitran = stranger, alien; alhue = spirit, ghost).

This hermit carried a wooden sword (perhaps a club), and did not speak. It was easily concealed as it kept to the forest and was dressed in dark clothes (perhaps animal furs). Later the Mapuche would “Europeanize” it giving it the appearance of a well groomed Spaniard riding a horse.

I have already mentioned the "Tailed men" of Patagonia, which are another variety of "primitive men".

Wild men, what were they?

We could, as Darwin, believe that these “wild men” were just that, crazy wild men; it is also very plausible that the Hannush and the Hashi were simply “homeless” Yagans living alone in a very harsh environment or even displaced Selk’nam, Alakaluf or Haush who had wandered into their enemies’ territory and tried to remain concealed to avoid attack and if necessary for survival, murdered any potential threats.

Apes and Homo erectus

Another option, not as far-fetched as believing that wild men are enormous bipedal apes that evolved separately in America, involves our distant relative, Homo erectus, which became extinct worldwide when modern humans, Homo sapiens, moved out of Africa about 100,000 years ago.

Erectus moved out of Africa and spread into Asia about 1.2 million years ago. There are no traces of erectus in America, so we do not know if they reached this continent.

However, it may be possible (though this theory is unproven)that H. erectus, our distant ancestor, entered and settled in America, adapting to its particular environment and surviving there for 200,000 years in splendid isolation until the arrival of modern men. An event that would have sealed H. erectus fate as it did all over the world. Unable to compete with man they disappeared.

Club wielding, fur clad H. erectus, with perhaps a limited capability for vocalization could easily explain all of these mythical wild men (Chilludo, Carcancho, Huitranalhue, etc.), and account for the dark "black" wild men reported by FitzRoy and Darwin.

Bibliography.

[1] Bridges, T., (1893). La Tierra del Fuego y sus habitantes. Informe de Thomas Bridges publicado por el Instituto Geográfico Argentino. B. Aires: Instituto Geográfico Argentino. 06-08.1893.
[2] Bridges, T., (1998). Los indios del último confin. Sus escritos para la South American Missionary Society. Ushuaia: Zaguier & Urruty Publications. pp. 152.
[3] Darwin, C., (1987). The Voyage of the Beagle. Ware: Woodsworth Editions. pp. 205.
[4] FitzRoy, R., (1839). Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836…. London: Henry Colburn. v. ii. pp. 180+ and pp. 191.
[5] Emperaire, J., (1963). Los Nómades del Mar. Santiago: Ediciones de la Universidad de Chile. pp. 156.
[6] Aguilera F., Lenguas y culturas de Chile – Kawéscar. Online.
[7] Grebe, M., (1974). La música alacalufe: aculturación y cambio estilístico. Revista musical chilena. Nº 126-127 pp. 80-111.
[8] Koessler-Ilg, B., (2000). Op Cit. pp. 71.
[9] Eberhart, G., (2002). Misterious Creatures: A guide to Cryptozoology. S. Barbara: ABC Clio. pp. 82.
[10] Batic, L., (2005). Seres mitológicos argentinos. Diario 1. Patagonia. B. Aires: Ed. Albatros. pp. 119.



Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Fuegian Beasts - Part 1

 

Part 1. The Selk’nam people’s monsters

All three nations of Fuegian natives feared monstrous clawed beings; in today’s post we will look into the beasts that terrified the Selk’nam people.

The Selk’nam were frightened of an evil female[*] spirit, the dreadful Halpen or Xalpen, virtually identical to the Tehuelche’s Ajchum, the “leader of devils”.[1][2]

[*] Fuegian males had a fixation with women’s liberty and they went to extremes to subjugate them. Their myths indicate that in the past men were under female domination until they revolted and adopted initiation rites in which they donned costumes and masks and impersonated evil spirits to instill fear and keep their women subdued. This may explain why females are associated with evil monsters in their culture.

She had a peculiar shout, a very shrilly “wa” and was escorted by her partner, Shoort. Both he and Halpen lived underground.[3]

Despite their fear, the natives enacted Halpen and Shoort during their “Hain”, a rite of passage into manhood, where she was the centerpiece.

Two principal Shoorts of the 1923 Hain. Left, north sky. Right, south sky. From [3] pp. 102.

Shoort’s role was to terrify the young men, who were told that he haunted the woods, was invulnerable to their arrows and that “if they met such a creature they were to take refuge in a tree, for the spirit was not accustomed to climbing trees”.[4]

Lucas Bridges, the first white man to be born in Tierra del Fuego, took part in a Hain and gives a good idea of what Halpen looked like; he tells of a young boy named Tinis who was dressed to represent her; he was covered with guanaco skins until:

overwhelmed, could barely walk, having lost all human appearance […] These furs, with the hair inwards and whitened with lime on the outside, hung down to his feet, and on top of all this they fastened a wrapping that resembled a short and stocky fish, with something like a human face painted on the front […] The slow pace of Halpen, his occasional stops […] made it a threatening appearance, in accordance to its sinister fame.[4]

He added that Halpen could also be a swift creature and had a long sharp nail on its middle finger and used it to attack humans.

Salesian Father Gusinde described her as living underground and being not only dangerous but also irritable and whimsical. At a Hain ceremony he saw her represented with several hides placed on the floor of the hut that created a bulky cylinder roughly 6 m (20 ft.) long.

These eye-witness accounts indicate that Halpen was a large bulky furry creature, which was agile and also dangerous; with her claws she “open[ed] the bodies of [men] […] because she could hurt, destroy and even eat” them.[5]

Besides Halpen, the Selk’nam also had two other gigantic non-human monsters, Chémene and Siaskel.

Chémene or CheEnèm was another female monster that guarded a watering hole at Oixe by Cape Peñas. She was a terrifying “ogress”; a gigantic woman with large claws, who killed and ate the brave hunters who dared to venture close to her lair.[6][7] What became of her is not known. There are no accounts about her being killed. Perhaps she still hides by the spring.

Siaskel or Chaskel was a male monster, a giant that lived at the dawn of time, during the mythical era of the “Hoowin”, the legendary ancestors of the Selk’nam. During the time of the Hoowin lived a Selk’nam hero named Kwanyip; he had taught men how to build fires, hunt, make bows and arrows, canoes, and also, as a real hero, he slayed monsters.[8]

Siaskel, was a gigantic creature that ate humans -preferring children and women. His blood was poisonous and he, like Shoort and Halpen lived underground (some kind of burrowing monster?). Chilean folklorist Carlos Keller (1898-1974), described Siaskel as having dark disheveled hair and a cape that deflected the arrows shot at it (which, as we will see in future posts, was a feature that many Patagonian monsters shared).[9]

These defenses made him a formidable creature. But Kwanyip was forced to attack the monster to rescue his two young nephews who had been taken by Siaskel and enslaved by him. After a formidable battle, he slayed the beast.

In our next post we will look at the Yagan people’s “Cushpij” and the Alakaluf’s “Ayayema” and “Kawtcho” all of which are very similar to the Selk’nam’s monsters. We will also look for some reasonable explanation for these mythical creatures.

Bibliography.

[1] Baleta, M., (2002). Cuentan Los Chonkes - Leyendas de la Patagonia Tehuelche. B. Aires: Zagier & Urruty. pp. 27.
[2] Prieto, A., (1992). Arte Primitivo. Fuentes Decorativas, Punta Arenas. Año 3. N° 32. 05-1992.
[3] Chapman, A. (1982). Drama and power in a hunting society: The Selk'nam of Tierra del Fuego. Cambridge: Cambridge: University Press. pp. 100 and 102
[4] Bridges, L., (2008). El último confín de la tierra. B. Aires: Editorial Sudamericana. pp. 407-9.
[5] Penazzo, N. and Tercero G., (1992). Los dos primeros Kloket'n cuando el Loro anuncia la estación. Impactos, Punta Arenas. Año 3, N° 32. 05-1992
[6] Penazzo, N. and Tercero G., (1991). Impactos, Punta Arenas, Año 2, N° 21. 06-1991.
[7] Molina, M., (1976). Patagónica: Prehistoria, tradiciones y mitologías. Roma: Ed. LAS. pp. 167.
[8] Carbonell, B. (2003). Cosmología y chamanismo en Patagonia. Gazeta de Antropología. Nº 19, 19-09.
[9] Keller, C., (1947). Dios en Tierra del Fuego; Mitos y cuentos de los Sélcnam. Santiago: Zig-Zag. pp. 67.



Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Patagonian natives - Part 1

 

In our previous entry we mention two native groups, the Tehuelche and the Selk'nam, but we have not yet given a background on the people who originally lived in Patagonia.

Before the arrival of Europeans in the early sixteenth century, Patagonia was inhabited by several groups of American natives whose ancestors, the “Paleo-Indians” had settled there some thirty thousand years ago or even earlier.

The oldest dated remains of these first inhabitants are from the end of the last Ice Age about 11,000 years before the present (BP).

Tehuelche.
Were the descendents of the ancient Patagonian Paleo-Indians. The name was given to them by the Mapuche natives (who lived in northern Patagonia in both Chile and Argentina), and meant “fierce people”.
We group them into two distinct groups, each with cultural and linguistic differences: the Northern Tehuelche (Günnuna Kenna or Gennakenk – which, in their language meant “people”) and the Southern Tehuelche. The region between the Senguer, Chubut and Chico rivers was a flexible border between these groups.

Northern Tehuelche. Gradually, during the XVIIth century these northernmost Tehuelche expanded further north out of Patagonia, across the Negro and Colorado rivers and into the Pampas where they replaced the original natives of Buenos Aires province and became known as the “Pampas” or “Puelche” (the latter, in Mapudungun -the Mapuche language- means “Eastern people”).
In the Pampas they encountered vast quantities of free roaming wild cattle and also the horse which the Spaniards had bought to America. The horse was quickly adopted, and through the Puelche it quickly spread south into the heart of Patagonia.
The original core of the Gennakenk continued living in Patagonia between the Negro and Chubut rivers until their demise in the late nineteenth century.
There was yet another smaller group, on the flanks of the Andes in the Argentine provinces of Chubut and Rio Negro. They were usually at war with the Mapuche who frequently invaded their territory. They were known as the “Chüwach a Künna” (people at the edge of the mountains) and little is known of them.

Map showing territories originally occupied by the Patagonian natives (Click to Enlarge)

Southern Tehuelche. They called themselves “Chonik”, which in their language meant “us, the men”. Originally they were “foot Indians” and it was not until the late XVIIth and early XIXth centuries that they adopted the horse. The Southern Tehuelche were divided into two separate sub-groups, very similar except for their language:

• Teushen (Boreal Southern Tehuelche); they lived in the north, between the Santa Cruz and Chubut rivers.
• Aonikenk or Aonek'enk (Austral Southern Tehuelche), which meant “people of the South”. They lived in the southern area, between the Santa Cruz River and the Strait of Magellan.

Fuegian natives.
Finally, Tierra del Fuego Island, inhabited by four groups all of which have now disappeared; each of them remarkably adapted and specialized to their own habitat.
The Selk’nam (or Ona), and the Haush (or Haus) were “foot Indians” who never adopted an equestrian way of life because horses never reached their island. The Selk’nam were very closely related to the Tehuelche in culture and language; they had become separated from them when the sea level rose and flooded the Strait of Magellan, isolating them on Tierra del Fuego.

The Haush were different and may have descended from the earliest humans to reach the southernmost tip of the Americas 13,000 years ago.

The other Fuegian natives were the “Boat people”, who had a highly developed way of life adapted to living on the sea coast; they moved around in canoes. These people were the Yagan (Yámana), who lived in the Fuegian channels and islands and were the southernmost people in the whole world; and the Alakaluf (or Kawesqar) who lived in the islands of southwestern Patagonia to the north and west of the Yagans. Both had a similar lifestyle differing only in their language.

A third group of boat people were the Chono; they were not Fuegian for they lived nearly 2.000 km (1,200 mi.) further north, around the Chonos Archipelago and Chiloé island –where they were absorbed by the Huilliche (relatives of the Mapuche). Little is known about them because they died out before the XIXth century.

In another post we mention the Mapuche people.


Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters