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Chapters: Guaraní, Mapuche, Wichí, Fuegians, List of Indigenous Languages in Argentina, Aymara Ethnic Group, Querandí, Selknam, Malón de La Paz, Patagon, Toba People, Diaguita, Capayán, Chané, Second Malón de La Paz, Alacaluf, Comechingón, Charrua, Tehuelche, Quilmes, Puelche, Calchaquí, Pehuenche, Haush, Poya, Chicoana, Amaicha. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 120. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Guaraní, Spanish, Portuguese Guaraní are a group of culturally related indigenous peoples of South America. They are distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guaraní language. The traditional range of the Guaraní people is in what is now Paraguay between the Uruguay River and lower Paraguay River, the Corrientes and Entre Ríos Provinces of Argentina, southern Brazil, and parts of Uruguay and Bolivia. Although their demographic dominance of the region has been reduced by European colonisation and the commensurate rise of mestizos, there are contemporary Guaraní populations in these areas. Most notably, the Guaraní language, still widely spoken across traditional Guaraní homelands, is one of the two official languages in Paraguay, the other one being Spanish. The language was once looked down upon by the upper and middle classes, but it is now often regarded with pride and serves as a symbol of national distinctiveness. The Paraguayan population learns Guaraní both informally from social interaction and formally in public schools. The history and meaning of the name Guaraní are subject to dispute. Prior to their encounter with Europeans, the Guaraní referred to themselves simply as Abá, meaning "men" or "people." The term Guaraní was originally applied by early Jesuit missionaries to refer to natives who had accepted conversion and were thus "civilized". Cayua or Caingua (k...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=100754 ... Read more

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The area now known as Argentina was relatively sparsely populated until the period of European colonization. The Diaguita of northwestern Argentina lived on the edges of the expanding Inca Empire; the Guaraní lived farthereast and north east. In the North were the Quechuapeoples, and Patagonia was inhabited by other tribes known as Tehuelches. Europeans first arrived in the regionwith the 1502 voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. The Spanishnavigator Juan Díaz de Solís visited the territory which is nowArgentina in 1516 and in 1536 the Spaniards founded a small settlement. ... Read more

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When the regions of Pampa, Patagonia, and Tierra del Fuego were first described to the Spanish crown, they were presented as being empty of human inhabitants. In truth, the area--although indeed large with a low overall population density--supported a thriving foraging community. The research presented here testifies to the complex history of the Mapuche, Tehuelche, Rankuelche, and Fueguian peoples. Anthropological studies investigate biological and cultural population diversity, early archaeological records, and ethnographic details of kinship, religion, ritual, and language, revealing a more accurate record of the past. ... Read more

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The regions and the people of the southern cone of South America have been identified as wild and at the edge of the world. The present compilation of research by scholars, many of whom are members of the Argentine Academia, effectively summarizes the struggle of the Mapuche, Tehuelche, Rankuelche, and Selk'nam peoples for a continued sense of cultural identity distinct from the one of inferiority foisted upon them by Spanish conquerors. ... Read more

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This book is the first in any language to provide an overview of Gran Chaco societies in Argentina in both historical and contemporary perspectives. It depicts a variety of strategies and actions utilized to regenerate traditional values and actions in the face of enormous pressures for assimilation. ... Read more

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Aldo Sessa took four years to bring this hugely impressive photographic, artistic and documentary book to reality. During this time, he visited every province, travelled 40,000 kilometres and took 50,000 photographs. The Gaucho so captivated Sessa that he can now be considered an expert on authentic Gaucho culture. His photographs show that Argentina is a marvellous country and the Gaucho an exceptional person. We will consider ourselves well compensated if, through this record, our fellow citizens discover that the Gaucho exists, in flesh and blood, and performs as the Argentine archetype. People from other lands will have a document through which they can witness the existence of these special people; "The Gauchos". ... Read more

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This stunning collection of 284 rare designs is a bonanza for artists and craftspeople seeking distinctive patterns with a South American Indian flavor. The carefully adapted, authentic motifs include animal and totemic designs, geometric and rectilinear figures, abstracts, grids, and many other styles in a wide range of shapes and sizes.
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Some fourteen to ten thousand years ago, as ice-caps shrank and glaciers retreated, the first bands of hunter-gatherers began to colonise the continental extremity of South America. Their arrival marked the culmination of mankind's epic journey to people the globe. These intrepid nomads confronted a hostile climate every bit as forbidding as Ice Age Europe as they settled the wilds of Fuego-Patagonia. Much later, sixteenth-century European voyagers encountered their descendants: the Aonikenk (southern Tehuelche), Selk'nam (Ona), Yamana (Yahgan) and Kawashekar (Alacaluf). The first contacts led to tales of a race of giants and, ever since, Patagonia has exerted a special hold on the European imagination. Tragically, by the mid twentieth-century the last remnants of the indigenous way of life had disappeared for ever. The essays in this volume trace a largely unwritten history of human adaptation, survival and eventual extinction. Published to accompany a major exhibition on Fuego-Patagonia at the Museum of Mankind, London. ... Read more

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Some fourteen to ten thousand years ago, as ice-caps shrank and glaciers retreated, the first bands of hunter- gatherers began to colonize the continental extremity of South America--"the uttermost end of the earth." Their arrival marked the culmination of humankind's epic journey to people the globe. Now they are extinct. This book tells their story. The book describes how these intrepid nomads confronted a hostile climate every bit as forbidding as ice-age Europe as they penetrated and settled the wilds of Fuego-Patagonia. Much later, sixteenth-century European voyagers encountered their descendants: the At0nikenk (southern Tehuelche), Selk'nam (Ona), Yt.mana (Yahgan), and Kawashekar (Alacaluf), living, as the Europeans saw it, in a state of savagery. The first contacts led to tales of a race of giants and, ever since, Patagonia has exerted a special hold on the European imagination. Tragically, by the mid-twentieth century, the last remnants of the indigenous way of life had disappeared for ever. The essays in this volume trace a largely unwritten history of human adaptation, survival, and eventual extinction. Accompanied by 110 striking photographs, they are published to accompany a major exhibition on Fuego-Patagonia at the Museum of Mankind, London.The contributors are Gillian Beer, Luis Alberto Borrero, Anne Chapman, Chalmers M. Clapperton, Andrew P. Currant, Jean-Paul Duviols, Mateo Martinic B., Robert D. McCulloch, Colin McEwan, Francisco Mena L., Alfredo Prieto, Jorge Rabassa, and Michael Taussig. ... Read more

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Got a good review in _Nature_
A short review in the magazine _Nature_ (9 Oct 97, p 557) has a cool picture and says "gripping read and lavishly illustrated."END ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A classic nonfiction work, not a "novel"...

Just to put the prior review in context, this is a very worthwhile work of nonfiction -- specifically, socio-econo-politico-anthropological reportage.Apparently the reviewer meant "book" rather than "novel"....

the classic dilemma
A visit to the ranquel indians(Una excursion a los indios ranqueles)is the most famous novel of the argentine"dandy" writer Lucio Mansilla.
Nephew of the ex dictator Rosas, Mansilla grew up as any other nobleman at his age. He used to be haughty, scorn the culture of the aboriginal as "barbarism" and" uncouth".
But his opinion changed completely after visiting the ranquel indians during a mission send by the federal government.His original motive was oblige the indians to concede the territory for the construcion of railroad, but while he lived along side the indians, he realized that the problems the indians have were mostly because of their povertry, and they are neither uncouth, imbecil and bellicose as the government described.
The indians were really brave, smart and loyal to the friendship.
Mansilla felt that himself was also converted to a inseparable part of the indian community. At the same time, he also know clearly that his mission was to destroy the indian's hacienda.
The today he complete his mission must also be the final of the peaceful life of these ingenuous poor people.
It was really a painful option for Mr Mansilla... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Better Than Huck Finn
This is a fun, true-life adventure book!I started reading it after reading "The Voyage of the Beagle" and reading about Fitzroy and the Voyage of the Beagle in other books, thus becoming interested in the Fuegan indians captured by Fitzroy and taken to London. I stumbled on this book.This book is a sleeper!I don't understand why it is not more well known. This writer has a way of making points through understatement that is quite funny at times.If you like reading about Shakleton in "Endurance" or Josh Sloacum's books you will absolutely love this book.This book gives you a perspective on the american indians from an insider's view I have never seen anywhere else.Absolutely fascinating.I want to drop everything and go see Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

A hidden gem
This is one of the true golden nuggets, the rare find that few people know about... it captures an era and a people long gone with poignant, personal anthropology in a voice filled with empathy, objectivity, and humility. How many peoples like the fierce, brilliant Ona will never again walk the earth? What secrets, innovations, and knowledge bred of millenia living within the ecosystem are lost forever? It's an unknowable question, but the depth of the answer is suggested in the unvarnished portrayal of life growing up among the peoples of southern tierra del fuego. This book is a journey into a time and place filled with danger, adventure, enterprise, cultural exchange in the deepest sense, and above all comradeship and family bonds. I have read Uttermost Part of the Earth numerous times and am so grateful for its existence.

a unique and important book
No other book has been written, to my knowledge, that is similar to the "Uttermost Part of the Earth."The book is well and evocatively titled. The author was the third white child to be born in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina in 1874.Ushuaia has become today the southernmost city of the world -- a place where 60 degrees F is a hot summer day and the wind never stops blowing.

The author's missionary family came to Ushuaia to convert the Yahgan Indians who eked out a cold existence around the waters of the Straits of Magellan.Growing up, the author became even more fascinated with the Ona Indians who lived in the interior of Tierra del Fuego and hunted guanaco, a wild version of the llama. The author spoke the languages of both tribes, lived with them,and recorded their culture and lifestyles. These two peoples are now culturally extinct.In 1947 the author estimated that their numbers had declined from more than 7,000 when he was born to about 150.Disease brought by the White Man along with White settlement of Tierra de Fuego for sheep herding, mining, and fishing doomed the Indians.

The "Uttermost Part of the Earth" is also an adventure tale, told in a dead-pan understated style that accentuates the extraordinary events in the author's life.There are tales of sailing in waters that probably have the worst weather in the world and of being the first to cross Tierra del Fuego on foot.One does not doubt Lucas's veracity; there is little of the contrived excitement lesser adventurers try to generate.Indeed, he seems guilty of understatement.One would welcome from him more forthright expression of his views.

This book deserves a place on the short bookshelf of travel and adventure classics."Uttermost" is one of the finest and most unique reads you will find, and one of the most informative also.

Smallchief

Good resource on early missionarys in Chile
I visited Tierra del Fuego & Patagonia in March of 2004. When attending a lecture aboard ship regarding the early settlement of this area I was told a good resource book on this area was Lucas Bridges book "The Uttermost Part of the Earth" - it was a great recommendation. I was able to obtain the book via Interlibrary loan (believe it came from a library in Minnesota). A great read! Lucas was one of 6 children of Thomas Bridges a missionary sent from England to Christianize the natives. 5 of his 6 children were born there. The book doesn't deal that much with actually missionary (ie: church) work as it does the experiences of Bridges family members with the native tribes. What endurance those people had! I'd recommend it to anyone interested in that part of the world.

Why is this book out of print?
I was given an old hardback copy of this title by my husband's granny, who lived in Tierra del Fuego for several years. It's the most rivetting book I've ever read. I'd love to recommend it to my book group, but where is it?

This is the remarkable story of a family which, whilst colonising, nevertheless also became as assimilated into, and trusted by, the native community as it is possible to be. E. Lucas Bridges' account of his family's relationship with the soon-to-be-extinct Indians of Tierra del Fuego is one book I'll read (and be completely absorbed by) again and again.

It left me with enormous respect for the writer, and deep regret for the extinction that incomers (sometimes unwittingly, sometimes consciously) meted out to this fascinating and multi-faceted people.

One very minor lack in this brilliant book is the expression of any emotional response to the events that unfold. The story is narrated very factually and presumably accurately, but I often found myself wanting to know "What did the writer really feel when this or that intriguing or absurd or dangerous sequence of events played out before him?".

No book has more made me want to visit a region than this one. An absolutely unforgettable read. ... Read more

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1917. This work had its origin in an attempt to find what light an intensive study of the available sources would throw on the culture, particularly the religion and morality, and on the cultural relations, of one of the most primitive aboriginal American groups, the tribes of Tierra del Fuego. In the course of preparation references accumulated, what began as a cultural study ended as a bibliography. ... Read more

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Operatic, ethnographic thriller tests the boundaries between art and scholarship. ... Read more

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Strives to present an often oversimplified culture
Angora Matta: Fatal Acts Of North-South Translation by anthropologist and political theorist Marta Elena Savigliano (Professor, UCLA Department of World Arts & Culture) is a "tango-opera" exploring views of the history of Argentina even as it follows the turmoil involving a deadly female assassin, as sensed and charted by a gifted medium. The opera performance enriches as it strives to present an often oversimplified culture, and the metaphors weaving the breadth of the work circle about the human inner striving to express and impress. Angora Matta is a unique, unforgettable, and highly recommended contribution to Latin American Cultural Studies collections and reading lists. ... Read more