Missionaries: From Alaska to Patagonia · Episode 9 of 10 · 41 min
Indigenous Survival in Tierra del Fuego: Missions, Genocide, and the Refusal of Extinction
At the southern tip of the Americas, an Anglican mission starved in 1851, the Yámana killed the next missionaries in 1859, and Thomas Bridges compiled a 32,000-word dictionary as his people died of disease. Sheep companies paid bounties for dead Selk'nam, and Catholic missions meant as refuge became sites of death. The series closes on survival: Chile recognized the Selk'nam as a living people in 2023.
Who's who
- Allen GardinerAnglican captain whose 1851 expedition starved
- Thomas BridgesMissionary who founded the Ushuaia mission and compiled a Yámana dictionary
- José FagnanoSalesian bishop who ran the mission hostels
- Cristina CalderónLast native speaker of Yaghan; died 2022
- Hema'ny MolinaSelk'nam leader who fought for 2023 recognition
- Julius PopperRanching magnate whose operations drove the Selk'nam genocide
Where it happens
- Tierra del FuegoSouthern tip of the Americas
- Wulaia Bay, ChileSite of the 1859 massacre
- Ushuaia, ArgentinaMission founded by Bridges in 1869
- Dawson Island, ChileSite of a Salesian mission
Timeline
- 1851Gardiner and six companions starve to death
- 1859Wulaia Bay massacre
- 1869Bridges founds the Ushuaia mission
- 1880sSheep companies fence the plains; Selk'nam genocide begins
- February 16, 2022Cristina Calderón dies
- September 5, 2023Chile recognizes the Selk'nam as a living original people
Still debated
Whether the Salesian missions were refuge or accomplice is contested, and Selk'nam descendants call them an instrument of the genocide. Population figures (Yámana from about 3,000 to under 300; Selk'nam from about 4,000 to under 100) are approximate. The textbook claim of extinction was formally refuted in 2023.