The Yahgan were a small people, seldom over 5 feet tall, with tiny, delicate
hands and feet. Their speech was musical and soft, and their language made
up of very complicated words, inflections and tones which would totally
alter the meaning of the original word or phrase. They communicated over
the distances with smoke signals which spoke a clear code in the smoke.
In this cold climate, the Yahgan wore No Clothes. None at all. Their bodies were covered with grease from the sea animals they caught, and with body paint which served to both carry a message and keep in still more body heat. Body paint of red showed that they came in peace. White was a warning of conflict and war, and black was for death and mourning.
Extended families lived together as often as the food supply would allow. All relatives, including the most distant of cousins, were welcome in these communities. Shelters were built by digging very large holes in the earth, placing a fire pit in the center for warmth, and surrounding the pit with whatever materials could be found that would serve as a windbreak. The diet of the Yahgan consisted primarily of shellfish supplemented with fish and larger animals of the sea such as seals and porpoises, along with sea birds which nested in the rocks. However, fish were not in plentiful supply, and the larger animals moved in schools which quickly passed by. Once the food source was depleted, the Yahgan broke up their family gathering and moved on. When a beached whale was discovered, smoke signals were immediately sent up to announce the finding of this storehouse of food, skin, oil and grease. People came from everywhere to take part in the celebration for the hoarding of food was unheard of.
It was the women who dove into the icy water to retrieve the shellfish for Yahgan men never learned to swim! They put to sea in fragile and delicate canoes made of the bark of any plant that could be found. The center of the canoe held a "hearth" made of a bed of carefully packed sand, rock, and the fire. In all kinds of weather, the fires of the canoes could be seen bobbing out to sea. Women rode in the stern looking for the thick kelp beds which were hiding places for shellfish and smaller fish. They would dive into the frosty and icy kelp beds, harvest what could be found, place their bounty very carefully into the canoes not to tear the delicate bark, and continue this work until the canoe could hold no more. They would then maneuver the canoe as close to land as possible without running the risk of being thrown into rocks, firmly anchor it to the nearest kelp bed, and ferry the men and older children to shallow water where they could wade to shore. The woman swam trip after trip until all the passengers and the catch for the day was safely ashore. They would then place their babies on their heads, and finally swim to shore for the last time. Remember…..They Wore No Clothes!
Travel was necessary for the young men of the tribe to find suitable wives. It was forbidden to marry any relative, even distant cousins. However age was not a consideration and many wide age differences were common. Wisdom and experience were much more sought after qualities than romantic attraction. Both boys and girls were put through long and complicated puberty ceremonies. Once that rite of passage had been observed, the search for a wife began. Red body paint announced the peaceful mission, and fellow Yahgans were greeted with massive bear hugs. However, it was absolute taboo to call a person by name for that was their most private possession. Etiquette demanded that no name ever be spoken in the person’s presence.
The Yahgan were discovered by The Beagle, Darwin’s exploration ship, in 1826. Prior to this discovery, they had found the Ona who lived in the eastern part of this land, and who were the mortal enemies of the Yahgan. During this voyage of 1826, four Yahgan children were kidnapped by Darwin’s crew and taken back to England. They remained there for two years where they were Christianized, gawked at, examined and made a spectacle of. They were never taught English, but did pick up enough of the language to understand how feared their people were by the English. Missionaries who had attempted to convert the Yahgan after that initial contact in 1826 were never seen again. They probably died of starvation, exposure or any number of other reasons, and some were killed in retaliation for violent acts against the Yahgan. The English were convinced that the Yahgan were cannibals, as were the Ona. They were not, but the young captives had learned enough to know how to protect their people against the whites.
When these young men were allowed to return to the Cape with Darwin aboard the Beagle in 1828, they acted as "interpreters" for the English. Yes, the Yahgan ate each other. Yes, they especially were fond of elderly women who had outlived their usefulness. Yes, they ate shipwrecked sailors. Paralyzed with fear, the group of missionaries who had also sailed on the Beagle fled for home. Many other groups of missionaries attempted to save the Yahgan, but all gave up and returned home.
It was not until 1863 that eighteen-year-old Thomas Bridges determined that he would get to the truth about these people. He went among the Yahgan alone, in peace and friendship, and did one thing that had never been tried before. He learned their language, their ways, and respected their life. He was accepted without harm. What he discovered was a society that practiced absolute equality in all things. There were no chiefs or "rulers". There were women shaman as well as men but in times of a dispute, the decision of the women was final since it was believed that women ruled the sea, and the sea held the key to their survival. Murder was forbidden. Stealing was almost equally bad, and anyone caught in the act was immediately cast out of the family unit. They were NOT cannibals. They were fun loving and were especially skilled at various ball games. They were faithful, devoted to their families, and took special care of the elderly.
It was Thomas Bridges who gave these people the name of Yahgan -
the name of an area in the central channels which was favored as the tribal
gathering place. The name they called themselves was "Yemana", which simply
meant "living people". As with all indigenous people, the Yahgan were left
with white diseases brought to them by the explorers and missionaries.
Their numbers have rapidly diminished, and they are a people who are disappearing
from our world.
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