Expeditions to the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia,
Cape Horn, Falklands & Tierra Del Fuego
About the Ona Indian Culture in Tierra Del Fuego:
The Ona are an American Indian group formerly occupying most of the large
island of Tierra del Fuego located between long. 65 degrees-70 degrees 31
min. W by lat. 53 degrees-56 degrees S, at the southern tip of South America.
Neighboring peoples with whom the Ona traded and intermarried were the Alacaluf
and the Yagan. The Ona are often referred to in the literature as "Foot
Indians," because they had neither canoes nor horses.
About 10.000 years ago when the last glacial age was finished, Tierra del
Fuego was joined to the South American continent. and the Ona Indians (Selknam
etnia) were able to cross over to Tierra Del Fuego.
They were hunters of birds and guanacos. More than 4000 Ona Indians inhabited
the area, a tall race ( 6'2" average male height) and very good with
the sling bow, arrow. They repelled the penetration of white man for almost
half a century. (The average European in these times was about 5"6")
The Ona were divided into two main groups called Haush and Selk'nam, each
of whom was distinct both dialectically and culturally. The Selk'nam were
further subdivided into a northern and a southern branch. Both of these
groups again differed somewhat in language and culture, and were not on
the best of terms. There may have been an ecological basis for their differentiation,
since the northern group occupied the treeless prairies north of the Rio
de Fuego and the Rio Grande, whereas the southern group occupied the parklands
and forest regions south of that line (Cooper, 1946: 108).
The language of the Ona has been classified by Greenberg (1966) within a
linguistic group that includes Yagan, Alacaluf, Tehuelche, Puelche, and
Araucanian. This group constitutes a branch of the Andean subfamily of the
Andean-Equatorial language family (Steward and Faron 1959: 22). The previously
mentioned linguistic differences between the Selk'nam and the Haush were
quite pronounced, and it has been said that a Selk'nam could understand
a Haush only with a great deal of difficulty.
Since the first European contacts, the Ona population has diminished disastrously.
Lothrop (1928) estimates that around 1850 the Selk'nam population numbered
about 3,600, and that there were approximately 300 Haush. Seventy-five years
later, at the time of Lothrop's fieldwork (1924-25), he reports that there
were only 60 to 70 Selk'nam and 2 or 3 Haush. Gusinde (1931) claims, however,
that Lothrop was "inaccurately informed," for in Gusinde's census
of 1919, he counted 279 full-blooded Indians and 15 Indian-White mixtures.
By 1930, when Gusinde was writing up his field data, there were only about
100 full-blooded Indians left. It is likely that by the middle of the twentieth
century, the Ona had ceased to exist as a distinct ethnic-cultural group.
The reasons for the rapid decline and evident extinction of the Ona population
are no mystery. They are clearly etched in the history of Ona-White relations,
and range from the introduction of new diseases to deliberate campaigns
of extermination against the Indians. Ona subsistence was based primarily
on hunting, particularly of guanaco, which was the basic staple in their
diet. They also hunted fox, small rodents called tuco tucos, wild fowl,
and marine animals. Other subsistence activities included the gathering
of edible fungi, plants, and berries, the collecting of shellfish and other
marine products and, to a limited extent, fishing. Men did the hunting and
fishing, while the women did the gathering. The Ona had no knowledge of
agriculture, and their only domesticated animal was the dog.
The Ona country was divided into 39 distinct territories, each of which
was held exclusively by a different migratory band ranging in size from
40 to 120 individuals. Exploitative trespass in a territory by outsiders
was deeply resented and often led to bloodshed and war. Hunters from other
bands were received as guests, however, and were allowed the use of the
land. Property in things, such as clothing, adornments, weapons, tools,
baskets, and playthings, was owned individually. Generally, property was
acquired through labor, gift, or barter. Acquisition by inheritance was
lacking, since an individual's personal belongings were burned at his death
(Cooper 1946: 119). Because of the nomadic nature of the Ona, there were
no permanent settlements. Instead, families traveled after game animals,
settled for a few days at the spot where the game fell, and then traveled
on. Huts were of two kinds; the ones used in the open, treeless, northern
region were merely windscreens, while in the wooded south where timber was
available, conical-shaped true huts were constructed.
An old photo of Ona Indians
and their beech bark tee pee
(They typically wore more clothes
than their neighbors, the Yagans)
Descent among the Ona was bilateral. Eskimo cousin terminology was employed,
with all cousins being equated with each other and distinguished from siblings.
The basic social unit was the independent nuclear family. Real authority
among the Ona was vested in the male head of the family who recognized no
higher authoritative head, and did not accept orders from any other man.
The next and highest level of organization consisted of the patriarchal,
exogamous band, with the nuclear families grouped into 39 such bands. Each
band was independent, had its own separate, well-defined territory, and
recognized the moral leadership of an elder in the group, who was not actually
called a chief and had no real authority. His office was not hereditary
and his influence was persuasive rather than coercive. In addition to the
absence of chiefs, there also were no social castes or classes, no sibs
or moieties, and no other organized group or secret society.
Gusinde states that, with the exception of band exogamy and a prohibition
against consanguineous relatives, the Ona had complete freedom of choice
in selecting a mate. Ideally, the farther away a bride lived the more suitable
she became as a wife. After a temporary period of matriarchal residence,
the couple, almost without exception, moved to live permanently with the
husband's band. Although monogamy was the general rule, sororal polygamy
did take place on occasion. But only a small minority of the older men had
two wives and it was even more rare to have three. Sometimes a man would
marry a woman and her daughter by a previous marriage. Public opinion, however,
generally disapproved of polygamous unions. The average age of marriage
was 20 years for a man and 15-19 for a girl. However, a man first had to
be tested in the secret ceremonies of the kloketen before he was permitted
to marry and a girl must have had her first menses. Divorce was relatively
rare.
From the available accounts, Ona religion may have been monotheistic in
nature with a belief in a supreme being called Temaukel. Prayers were addressed
to Temaukel at the time of grave illness and two simple, almost non religious,
sacrifices were made to this deity on particular occasions. Other elements
of the religion involved mythological ancestors, forest spirits, and the
kloketen spirits. The Ona also conceived of the existence of a human soul
(kaspi) and its continuance after death in the realm of the supreme being.
Ceremonialism was primarily confined to the kloketen celebration in which
young men were initiated into manhood. Shamanism was well-developed among
the Ona, the shaman being called xon or yohon. The call to office came through
a dream in which the spirit of a deceased shaman appeared to a person, invited
him to seek the vocation, and finally bestowed upon him its own special
songs and power. Training for this office took two to three years. Since
there was no shaman society or organization, each shaman worked independently,
frequently in deadly rivalry with other shamans. The shaman cured, controlled
the weather and hunting, and helped his group in warfare. He also functioned
as a sorcerer and was often called on to bring harm to his own or his clients'
enemies.
Gusinde (1931), is considered a classic in anthropological literature and
provides a good summary of Ona ethnography.
Ona family on the big Island of Tierra Del Fuego
Onas on a tour of a "Big Island of Tierra Del Fuego" beach
Ona hunters with Guanaco skin cloaks
Onas hunting in Tierra Del Fuego
Some more old Ona Indian photos taken on Tierra Del Fuego
Island
More on the Onas
Back to Tour of Tierra Del Fuego
The Arctic, Antarctica and Cape Horn 
