Alacaluf
 |
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Kaweshkar. (Discuss) |
The Alacaluf (also called Halakwulup, Kawésqar, Kaweskar) are a South American people living in Chile in the Strait of Magellan (Brunswick Peninsula, and Wellington, Santa Inés, and Desolación islands), Chile. Their traditional language is known as Kawésqar.
Contents |
[edit] Economy
They were a nomadic sea-faring people until the twentieth century. Because of their sea culture, the Kawésqar have never farmed the land.
[edit] Population
They were never very numerous; the total population never reached more than five thousand. In the 1930s the Alacaluf settled on Wellington Island, in the town of Puerto Edén. Today, very few Kawésqar remain. The 2002 census found 2,622 people self-identifying as Kawésqar (those that still practiced their native culture or spoke their native language). In 2006, only 15 full-blooded members remained. Lessons on Kawésqar are part of the local curriculum but very few speakers of the language remain.
[edit] Tribes and languages
Adwipliin, Aksánas, Alacaluf, Cálen (Cálenches, Calenes,), Caucahue, Enoo, Lecheyel, Taíjataf (Tayataf), Yequinahuere (Yequinahue, Yekinauer).
[edit] Treatment of Kaweskar by Europeans
In 1881 eleven Kaweskar people were taken from Patagonia to be shown in Bois de Boulogne in Paris and in Berlin's zoo. Only four of them have returned alive to Chile. The remains of five others were repatriated from Switzerland's University of Zurich early in 2010. Upon their return the president of Chile apologized that the state allowed for these indigenous people to be taken out of the country to be treated like animals. [1]
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- Kawésqar language
- Alberto Achacaz Walakial, Kaweskar man who died in 2008
[edit] External links
- Patricia Messier Loncuante (2005). "Kawésqar Community". Indigenous Geography Project. National Museum of the American Indian. http://www.indigenousgeography.si.edu/community.aspx?commID=5&lang=eng.
- Los Alacalufes
- Los indios Alacalufes (o Kawésqar)
- Photo Gallery
