The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, which consists of the large island
of the same name, and numerous smaller islands, many of which are
rocky, ice-bound and forbidding in aspect, constitutes the extreme
southern territorial limits of the continent, and is separated from the
mainland by the Strait of Magellan. The aborigines of this far southern
territory are divided into three tribes,--the Onas, Yahgans and the
Alacalupes. It is among these tribes, inhabiting a wild and forbidding
country, undisturbed by the march of progress and civilization, that
one may find the indigenous races living under the same conditions and
maintaining the traditions and customs that prevailed before the coming
of the white man to the western world.
ONAS.
The Onas are physically a fine race of people, the average height of
the men being a little over six feet; the women are also tall and
muscular. They have no system of tribal government, and are nomadic.
Their only occupation is hunting the guanaco, a fur-coated herbivorous
animal found in great numbers in the lower ranges of the Andes
Mountains in the south. The meat of the guanaco constitutes the chief
food supply of the Onas, and many of them subsist upon it entirely. The
skins of the animals are made into a sort of manta, which constitutes
the only costume worn by the men. They discard this costume when at
war, or in pursuit of the guanaco. The women wear only a small piece
of guanaco skin about their loins. The Onas live in families, one man
usually possessing several women. There is little regard for marriage
rites or usage, the more powerful and valiant of the men selecting
such women from the tribe as they may desire, and are able to maintain
against their rivals.
Their only weapons are bows and arrows, slings and harpoons, the
latter being pointed with barbed bone spikes. The number of Onas is now
estimated at three thousand five hundred, but like the other tribes in
Chile they are decreasing.
YAHGANS.
The coast of the Beagle Channel and all the archipelago south of
Tierra del Fuego to Cape Horn is inhabited by the Yahgan Indians. They
have no chiefs nor tribal laws and are perhaps the lowest grade of
human beings, in point of intelligence, and in the manner and customs
of living, existing on the American continent. They are dwarfed in
stature, have very dark skins and are repulsive in appearance. A
peculiar feature of the Yahgans is the extraordinary projection of
their front teeth, which are used for opening the shells of oysters and
mollusks. These bivalves and crustacea, their sole article of food, are
eaten raw.
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