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When the first audacious European navigators arrived at the beginning
of the XIX century, Tierra del Fuego was inhabited by four highly
differentiated ethnic groups, distributed in strictly delimited
areas.
SELK'NAM The Selk'nam (or Onas) were pedestrian hunters and occupied the central-northeast area of Isla Grande. They used bows and arrows to obtain their most valuable prey: the guanaco. The guanaco provided its meat as food, the skin as clothing or to assemble the "windbreakers" which women would lug on their shoulders after their use. Women were shorter in height while men had a harmonic and great muscular build. They fed with meat from whales that ran aground in the area, completing their diet with mushrooms, fruit, roots and birds. They were socially organized in patriarchal communities of up to 50 people. Although there were no leaders in the community, they respected the Koon, a sort of doctor and sorcerer. The language was very rich and they expressed their mood by painting their faces in black, red or white colors. YÁMANA The Yámana (Yaghan) were nomad canoers and occupied both
banks of the Beagle Channel and They mainly hunted sea lions, which were the main source of food due to their high fat content; penguins, whales, fish and shellfish in addition to roots, fruits and mushrooms completed their diet. They used seal skin as clothing that hanged from their neck down to the waist, and they covered their bodies with seal and sea lion grease to protect themselves from the elements. Most of the time they remained in canoes built with lenga or guindo tree bark, hunting and fishing, and occasionally going to land. At the center of the canoe a fire kept constantly burning inside an arrangement of stones, soil and clay. As weapons they used the harpoon made with whale bones and the slingshot. They were physically strong with a wide and long thorax (in comparison with their lower extremities), had strong arms and were bowlegged. They respected the Yekamush, who was in charge of rituals and social events. HAUSH The Haush (Manek'enk) occupied the Mitre Peninsula, southeast of Isla Grande. As the Selk'nam, they were pedestrian hunters, but due to their geographical location, they mostly hunted mammals and sea birds, which were their main source of food. For weapons they used the harpoon and spear for fishing, although they also collected mollusks. This was a peaceful tribe and were organized in small groups of two to three families. They did not used canoes and lived in huts built with branches and covered with sea lion skins. This was the smallest of the four tribes in the region. ALAKALUFES The Alakalufes inhabited an area from the Brecknock Peninsula in Chile, to the north, occupying most of the islands to the west and part of Isla Grande. Their main activities included marine hunting and fishing, constantly moving in search of sea lions, fish and penguins. Aquatic nomads as the Yámana, the Alakalufes traveled in
large canoes, which were the most important family possession; families
lived isolated from one another. With the arrival of European expeditionaries, a new era began when
a combination of many factors caused the rapid deterioration of
the life of the natives of Tierra del Fuego.
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