The Yanama/Yaghan People of Tierra del Fuego

Yaghan Family

Authors Note: Because Yanama means "man" in their native language, those who are still around prefer to be called the Yaghans.

The Yanama were an indigenous Native American tribe in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Their story is very similar to the other indigenous people of the Americas. Their lives would be going on as usual, and then all of a sudden, bam, explorers from Europe would come and annihilate them. Some would die from hunger, others from disease, and others from violence. When the explorers came, they also introduced the Yanama to clothes. They weren't used to that form of maintaining their warmth, so many died from that as well. Today, there is only one true blood Yanama. Her name is Christina Calderon. She is very old, and within a matter of years, an entire race will be extinct.

Christina Calderon-the last Yaghan

Being in such a cold, dry place, the Yanama people did not have a lot of variety in the food they ate. Their main source of food was the ocean. They had a seafood diet that included mussels, penguins, sea lions, seals. One of their major contributors from land was guanaco -- an animal very similar to llama. Unfortunately, when settlers from Europe came, they needed food too. Their most obvious choice was the ocean, so European fisherman raided the ocean and practically eliminated the Yanama's most major food source. Desperate people do desperate things, and the Yanama resorted to eating a bright orange fungus off of the trees that host it. The bulbous fungus is now called Pan de Indio or Indian Bread.

Pan de Indio (Indian Bread)

Their shelter was very simple, yet very effective and was related directly with their food. First, they would dig a hole in the ground that was approximately 2 feet deep and had a 6 foot radius. They would then take branches and form a roof over the hole in another dome. This would provide shelter from the weather and wouldn't topple from the extreme winds. They ate mussels inside their tent and then would throw the shells outside forming a huge purple ring around the tent.

Yaghan Shelter

They were nomads however, and they wouldn't stay in their huts for long. They were hunter-gatherers and they would hunt to get most of their food. Women had an equal place in Yanama society as men. Their form of seal hunting is one way that demonstrates the balance and equality of the couple. I say couple because you were not permitted to have your own canoe until you were married. Then you would make your own canoe and go seal hunting with your partner. While hunting seals, the woman would steer and propel the canoe towards the seal very quickly and silently. While the woman is controlling the boat with her paddle, the man starts to aim his spear. When the spear head hits the seal, it detaches from the shaft, held together by a string. The team then has full control of the seal, so they will wait for it to calm down a little bit before dragging it into the boat.

Hunters

The one key piece of information I haven't yet covered is their clothing. In fact, there isn't much to cover (apparently that was their philosophy too) as they went nude or just with a loincloth. It seems like a bad design because they are in one of the coldest places on earth, but there is more to it. They would wear thick moccasins made of guanaco fur and stuffed with grass to keep their feet warm and protected. They would also rub seal blubber on themselves as well as have plenty of their own fat on them.