Tierra del Fuego

Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego

The 29th largest island in the world, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, is divided between Chile and Argentina. The western portion (~60%) of the island is part of Chile’s Magallanes region, while the eastern portion (~40%) is in Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to explore the area. After observing numerous pillows of smoke rising from the shore – likely from fires of the indigenous Yaghan and Selk'nam people – Magellan named the island Tierra del Fuego ("land of fire").

Giardia and the North American Beaver

Natural water on Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego must be treated before consumption – 50 North American beavers were introduced to the island in 1946, in a misguided attempt to create a fur trade. History has proven this to be a catastrophically terrible decision – the beavers now number in the hundreds-0f-thousands, damming rivers (which causes flooding) and spreading giardia.

Gold?

In 1879, a Chilean expedition led by Ramón Serrano Montaner reported large amounts of gold in the streams and river beds of Tierra del Fuego, prompting massive immigration to the island.  The gold-rush attracted large numbers of Chileans, Argentines, and Europeans (especially Croatians and Russians) to the area.  However, gold resources proved to be short-lived.

The Selk'nam Genocide

By the late 1800s, the Spanish empire had been ousted from South America. Freshly-independent Argentina and Chile quickly began expanding their territories. Both governments claimed title to Tierra del Fuego and incentivized colonization by granting land titles. Large chunks of Patagonia were privatized and sold.  Given the harsh weather conditions down south, agriculture was difficult. Sheep-farming, however, thrived. Companies established ranches (estancias) which spread throughout the island. Indigenous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego (notably, the Selk’nam and Yaghan), were deprived of their natural hunting grounds. Populations of rhea and guanaco, a substantial portion of the Selk'nam diet, diminished, as gun-toting immigrants set up fences and hunted game for themselves. Occasionally, the Selk'nam would kill and eat sheep. In response, the companies that controlled the estancias began compensating sheep farmers or other militia (often former gold prospectors) a bounty for each Selk’nam dead. Kills were traditionally confirmed upon presentation of a pair of hands or ears. Later (when Selk’nam were spotted living without ears) a complete skull was required in order to collect a bounty. Bounty hunters were rewarded more handsomely for the death of a woman than a man. Two Christian missions were eventually established to provide housing and food for the Selk’nam, but it was too little, too late. Both closed due to the small number of Selk’nam remaining. Although they had numbered in the thousands before European colonization, by the early twentieth century, only a few hundred Selk'nam remained. The last ethnic Selk’nam died in 1974.