Traditional Colla society is organized on the basis of family and friendship ties among people living in the same locality. With the official constitution of indigenous communities under…
Horticulturists
…One of the great revolutions in human history was the domestication of plants. Once humans began cultivating plants, they quickly became the principal source of food in the…
Agriculturalists of the Center
…the Llolleo way of life, prompting these people to increasingly focus on corn farming, an economic activity that demanded a much more sedentary way of life. The production of corn…
Culto y Funebria
…Only two funeral contexts have been found for these communities: one a burial of at least six individuals, without any apparent grave goods, and another a woman who was…
History
…between the Bío Bío Rover and Reloncaví Sound. When the Spanish came to this region, however, the Mapuche tongue of Mapudungun was in use all the way from the Choapa…
Settlement patterns
…Prior to the 16th Century, the Mapuches are thought to have lived a dispersed and nomadic existence and their way of life was characterized by gathering and by slash…
History
…spoke their native tongue and were only able to communicate with Spanish speakers through interpreters. Three decades later a ‘bilingual’ system was imposed on the group that made Spanish the…
Art
…gradually, free from external influences. The oldest of these platforms feature large walls composed of enormous blocks of lava fitted together with incredible precision. The first moais also date to…
Economy
…who hunted these camelids with bow and arrow and also with bolas. This activity was exclusive to the male members of the group, although both men and women fished and…
Historia
…Chile’s Selk’nam people were also known as the Ona, a Yamana word meaning “northward” or “northern.” They are completely extinct today. The Selk’nam’s first contact with Europeans was with…
Organización Social
…Tierra del Fuego’s Isla Grande was divided into haruwen (territories), each occupied by an extended family group. Selk’nam society was organized around four basic social institutions. The first was…
Arte
…they wore across their foreheads on every hunt. All members of the group wore their hair long, with bangs across the forehead. Body paint was a central element of Selk’nam…
Social organization
…The basic unit of Kawésqar society was the family. There was also a chief, who took charge of hunting expeditions. The individual chosen was normally the strongest man in…
Economy
…The Kawésqar were nomadic seafaring canoeists with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. According to contemporary sources, their principal vessel was the tree-bark canoe (made preferably from coigüe wood), which was made…
Language
…English would use a whole phrase. For instance, the term Aruskipasipxañanakasakipunirakispawa means “let us hope that there will always be dialogue between us”. The Aymara tongue is currently spoken by…
History
…arrived in 1536, and it was not until twenty years later that the region was pacified through a peace treaty signed at Suipacha. Towards the end of the sixteenth century…
Art
The main Atacameño arts include ceramics, basket weaving, textiles, goldsmithing, music and dance. The ancient ceramics of this region, made by the San Pedro culture, were monochrome red…
Art
…Their tools, utensils and dwellings were simply but skillfully made and were specially suited to their nomadic, seafaring way of life. The Chango culture adopted raw materials, technologies and objects…
Economy
…The Chonos belonged to the southern canoeist culture and were nomadic seafarers. Their vessels, called dalcas, were central to their way of life and were made of three planks…
Environment and Location
…with few beaches and dense woodlands reaching right to the water’s edge. The sea channels, about 480km (300 miles) long, are generally calm and easily navigable. The climate is cold…
Language
It is not known what language the Chono people spoke. Some experts doubt that they had their own tongue, while others think that they spoke the same language…
Settlement pattern
…itself was covered with leaves, skins and bark to keep out the wind. As covering materials were not easily obtained, the people took them along in the dalca when they…
Social organization
…Before the introduction of the horse, Tehuelche society was based on the nuclear family unit, with a dozen of these forming a band. This voluntary multi-family grouping dwelt in…
Social organization
…The fundamental unit of Yaghan society was the family, which consisted of parents and children. The family was a closed, independent structure and the only clearly determined social grouping….