#yaghan

[wtf-fun-factss]

The word "mamihlapinatapai" means so much it's often considered untranslatable. Click to read the full fact.

[patheticbatman]

Welcome to my 55th* Win A Commission Contest! Guess the Norwegian fairy tale this story is based upon, win a drawing, ficlet or recording! Hint: In the original story, the MC has a sister who gets decapitated by trolls/witches, sometimes has her head replaced by a cow’s in the time being, and then the MC has to rescue her head from her attackers. Here, the MC’s cousin is going to get kidnapped by a whale he ticked off.

Day 1 picture from yesterday with extra hints :)

*And second to last!

[linguisticalities]

Excavating a Language at the End of the World

How an old dictionary is revealing new perspectives on an Indigenous culture.

[anarchistin]

Thousands of years before European settlers arrived, the Yaghan inhabited the tip of South America. While some of their customs have endured, the Yaghan are losing their tribal legends. For many, Calderón represented a cultural resistance.

Cristina Calderón, Chile's last known Yaghan speaker, dies at 93

Until the end of her days, Abuela Cristina — as many knew her — bided her time making traditional reed baskets, and sharing the Yaghan langu

[gwendolynlerman]

Hello! I’m currently trying to learn more about the Yaghan people from South Chile, and you seem to have a wonderful knack for research.

I’m not finding a lot that I can reliably use, and I think that’s partly because of a lack of English language info (I know some Spanish but fear I am missing a lot) and because I don’t know quite how to research it. Would you have any tips, or any websites you could recommend?

Even if you only have language tips, that would be great! I know you’re probably in school still right now, so if you can’t, that’s absolutely fine. This is just for a side project I have, and it doesn’t need to be done any time soon.

(Btw if you run across contact info for someone who is running the language nest program, or a mythology/fairy tale book, that would be great)

Thank you either way! I really enjoy this blog :)

Hello! Thank you for your kind words!

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what you want to know about the Yaghan people. I found some information on the Spanish Wikipedia page about them, but unfortunately, it's all in Spanish.

Here is a list of a few of them:

http://web.uchile.cl/archivos/uchile/cultura/lenguas/yaganes/: the University of Chile website. There are some contacts listed for more information.

https://archive.org/details/YAMANA-ENGLISHA/page/n11/mode/2up: Yamana (Yaghan)-English dictionary

http://www.serindigena.org/index.php/es/patagonia/yagan: This is the most promising website I've found because it has books, articles, and other bibliography about Chile's indigenous peoples. I don't think there are any books about mythology or fairy tales.

https://etniasdelmundo.com/c-chile/yaganes/

Finally, I found out that Cristina Calderón is the last remaining Yaghan speaker.

Since everything is in Spanish, let me know exactly what you're looking for. I can translate some things for you.

[whateverbringsyouthroughthenight]

A Yaghan woman outside her hut, Chile. INTERFOTO/ ALAMY 

How the Internet Changed the Meaning of ‘Mamihlapinatapai’ 

An untranslatable word used among the few members of the Yaghan tribe has attained an odd sort of online fame.

[vikkicomics]

Made a Yaghan/Fueagian OC for my south-pole fic and wanted to draw her. Her name's 'Shima' and her dog's called 'Yashalla' which is just Yaghan for dog.

The Yaghan people were the furthest people south but they are extinct now.

JCR said 'They are the most miserable people I've ever met, but they are good company.' I can easily imagine him turning to Francis after making this statement and saying, "Just like you, Francis." with a wide grin.

[indigenouswisdom]

The Yámana (Yaghan) are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southern Cone, the geographic and cultural region composed of the southernmost areas of South America. For over 10,000 years they have inhabited the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, and later extended their presence to Cape Horn. Traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers, the Yámana built canoes which they used to travel between islands in search for food. The men of the groups hunted sea lions, while women routinely dove for shellfish in near-freezing waters, just north of the Antarctic. Although they lived in a subpolar oceanic climate, the Yámana notoriously went naked in their day to day living. Even in winter, they were able to achieve this feat by covering themselves in seal or sea-lion grease, huddling together around fires when possible (the island name, translated into Land of Fire, was given by early European explorers who observed these fires), and by their mysterious but naturally occurring increased metabolic rate, which allowed them to have a higher average body temperature than most humans. They often were observed to sleep in the open, completely unsheltered and unclothed, while Europeans shivered under blankets. Post-European contact,  some Yámana began to or were forced to wear European clothing (first picture).

European invasion decimated populations of the Yámana through killings and infectious disease. Today, a small but present amount of people in the Southern Cone identify as Yámana .