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The Selk'nam, also known as the Ona, a now-extinct people, lived in the Tierra del Fuego islands, in southern Chile and Argentina. They were one of the last aboriginal groups in South America to be reached by Westerners, in the late 19th century, when the Chilean and Argentine governments began efforts to explore and integrate Tierra del Fuego (literally, the "land of fire" based on early European explorers observing Selk'nam smoke from their bonfires). Tierra del Fuego (Spanish: land of Fire) is an archipelago at the southernmost tip of South America. ...
South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...
Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...
World map showing Europe (geographically) When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ...
Lifestyle
The Selk'nam were nomadic people and survived by hunting. They dressed sparingly, a remarkable feat given the cold climate of Patagonia. Communities of nomadic people move from place to place, rather than settling down in one location. ...
Patagonia is that portion of South America which, to the east of the Andes, lies south of the Neuquén and RÃo Colorado rivers, and, to the west of the Andes, south of (42°S). ...
The relations with whites The Selk'nam avoided contact with Western colonizers. Westerners killed most of the local animals which were the food source for the Selk'nam and used a great part of the land of Tierra del Fuego to establish large estancias - sheep ranches. Selk'nam, who lacked an understanding of sheep herds as private property, hunted sheep, behavior which was perceived as banditry by ranch owners. Ranchers supported armed groups to hunt down and kill the Selk'nam. To receive their bounty, such groups first had to return with the ears of the victims. After some ear-less Selk'nam were seen to be wandering the grounds the process was changed to exchanging a complete head for bounty. Jump to: navigation, search Species See text A Sheep is a mammal, one of several woolly ruminant quadrupeds in the genus Ovis. ...
Demise Two missions by Christian missionaries were eventually established to save the Selk'nam. The missions were meant to provide housing and food for the natives. In spite of the help, Selk'nam were unable to survive without their traditions and lifestyles, and they dwindled in numbers, particularly falling ill to diseases for which they had no immunity. The first mission closed, and the second one was forced to close later due to the limited number of Selk'nam remaining. While Selk'nam numbered in the thousands before Western colonization, by the early twentieth century only several hundreds remained, and the last ethnic Selk'nam died in the mid twentieth century. In May 1974, Angela Loij, the last ever pure-blood Selk’nam and last indigenous Fuegian, died. Jump to: navigation, search As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ...
A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ...
(19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ...
Culture and religion Despite the fact that the missions were not able to save the Selk'nam people or their traditions, the missions did a remarkable job in collecting information about Selk'nam religion and traditions - a short dictionary of Selk'nam language was even made.
Language The Selknam spoke a Chon language.
Religion Selk'nam religion was quite different from other typical "primitive" systems of beliefs. It more or less denied the existence of a supreme being; these beings were only mentioned in one legend as a part of the past, in creation myth.
Initiation ceremonies Selk'nam male initiation ceremonies, called Hain, were probably one of most fascinating parts of their culture. Some other nearby peoples also had similar initiation ceremonies.
Young males were called to a dark hut. There they would be attacked by "spirits" - actually people disguised as such. The children were taught to fear these spirits at childhood and were threatened by them in case they misbehaved. These now-young men did not know these spirits were not real, and they were to go to them and unmask them. After they saw that these "spirits" were actually human beings, they were then told a story of world creation about the Sun and Moon. Also, there was a story told (actually part of the same story) that at one time women used these spirits to control men: they would disguise themselves as spirits and threaten the men while the men did not know that these were not spirits at all. Once they found out, it was done vice-versa - women did not know that the spirits weren't real, while males found out at the intiation age. However it was more like a joke at these times, without males actually using spirits to control women, unlike the women had supposedly done in the past. After this first day, there were various related ceremonies - males showing their "strength" in front of women by fighting spirits (who were other males but the women did not know it) in some theatrical fights. Each spirit had its typical actions, words and such as well as typical outside looks. Therefore Selk'nam were perhaps the only Amerindian nation to have a theater tradition - the best actors from previous Hains were called again to impersonate spirits in later Hains. Jump to: navigation, search The Sun is the star at the centre of our Solar system. ...
Jump to: navigation, search Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ...
Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ...
For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed...
The Hain used to take a very long time, perhaps even a year on occasion, at the times when Selk'nam were not in touch with Europeans. It would end with the last fight against the "worst" spirit. Usually Hains were started when there was enough food (for example a whale was washed on coast), and by then all the Selk'nam from all the tribes used to gather at one place, in male and female camps. "Spirits" sometimes went to female encampments to scare them as well as going around the place and doing various things related to their characters. The last Hain was held in one of the missions in the early 20th century, and it was photographed by the missionary. It was of course a much shorter and smaller ceremony than it used to be when Selk'nam were still free, but it still provides a good insight into traditions of this nation. The photos depict various "spirit" clothings too. Jump to: navigation, search Whales are the largest species of exclusively aquatic placental mammals, members of the order Cetacea, which also includes dolphins and porpoises. ...
Heritage Pictures of Selk'nam people taken by the missionaries are available in the Puerto Williams museum. There are also a few books on the subject, including Selk'nam tales, collected by the missions, and a dictionary of the Selk'nam language. Due to early contact by missionaries, it was possible to gather much more information about the Selk'nam people than about other peoples of the region. The same missionary also attempted to collect information about other local nations - but unlike with Selk'nams, whom he visited whilst still numerous, the missionary visited and spent some time with people of other cultures only when their nations were already reduced and consisted only of a few people; therefore it was not possible to write as much about them as was written about the Selk'nam. Puerto Williams in Tierra del Fuego Puerto Williams is a small Chilean port, located on Isla Navarino facing the Beagle Channel. ...
A museum is typically a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment. ...
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