Yaghan Culture (Essay Sample)

Yahgan Culture Analysis
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The Yahgan Indians of Tierra del Fuego were short, chunky people, with slender legs and an average stature of five feet with the trunks of their bodies being large in proportion to their legs, thus no doubt an adaptation to their canoe-borne life way. They also had dark faces, coarse hair, and wore less clothing than possibly anyone else in the world. Often, both men and women went naked and decorated their faces with dot and line marks that had symbolic meaning. The Indians also adorned themselves with wristlets and anklets of guanaco skin, shell or bird-bone necklaces. They lived in simple wigwams made of pliable saplings bent into a cone, which were easily adjustable to favor them during winter or summer. Their main occupation was fishing and hunting, where they depended heavily on their canoes for their survival. Some of the reasons described in Fagan’s book Clashes of Cultures are for despair, while others are for hope (p.195).
One reason for despair among the Yahgan was that they were quarrelsome people, perennially feuding with one another over women, imagined insults or death of a relative. They followed their customs and traditions to the core despite some practices leading them astray, where men sometimes captured women from other bands thus tending to change wives fairly frequently. Also, their environment was peopled by numerous spirits, most of whom were malicious leading to a state of desperation among the bands. Bands represented two or more close families that moved or stayed together. By capturing women from other bands, this led to anguish or distress from other bands often leading to quarrels that would erupt either among individuals or groups. In case of a war, they would fight one another using spears, slings and even clubs leading to serious injuries and loss of property. This act often lead to despair among the weaker bands that didn’t have enough man-power to fight other stronger bands ,leading to discouragement or even desperation in the society (p.198).
As a sign of hope, the Yahgan had developed an impressive adaptation to a harsh environment, an adaptation that had remained viable for thousands of years (p.199).During summer; they covered their houses with grass, brush and other convenient materials. In times of winter, they added a thick covering of sewn sealskins a covering so thick and heavy that it was often ma...