Visiting the End of the World

 

Situated at the southernmost tip of Argentina, Ushuaia is commonly referred to as the end of the world. (Cue REM, but I'm digressing already.) It's also the capital of Tierra del Fuego, or "The Land of Fire." The archipelago was originally given the name "The Land of Smoke" by Magellan due to the many fires built by indigenous people that he saw along the coast. (Smoke was used by the Fuegians as a means of communication.) Charles I of Spain altered the name to be a bit more dramatic. Like Patagonia, the region is somewhat confusingly located in both Chile and Argentina. 

I'll start with a bit of Tierra del Fuegian history before focusing on Ushuaia. From 1831 to 1836, none other than Charles Darwin was the naturalist on board the HMS Beagle, captained by Robert FitzRoy. When Darwin joined the team, three young native Fuegians were also on board. FitzRoy had kidnapped them in retribution for the theft of a ship from his fleet. 

The hostages had been given English language names, but not of the type you'd hear on the streets of London. El'leparu became York Minster after a rock formation near where he was "found" that reminded the crew of a cathedral of the same name. Yokcushlu was dubbed Fuegia Basket as a nod to the seaworthy basket the crew of the stolen ship made to paddle to their new home on the Beagle. And Jemmy Button (given name Orundellico) was called this because his "purchase price" was a mother-of-pearl button. A fourth captive known as Boat Memory (original name unknown) had died of smallpox contracted during the Fuegian's time in England. His moniker had served as a reminder of the vessel that had been lost. I know this is a lot of detail but it just seems so, well, wrong to force odd new names upon these victims. Insult to injury and all that. FitzRoy's original plan had been to take the captives to England, teach them English and educate them so they could go back to Tierra del Fuego and convert the locals to Christianity. It didn't work out quite this way. For more of this story, click here. 

My etching by Daniela Fuchslocher
of man in Selk-nam tribe participating in Hain

One of the reasons I was excited about visiting Tierra del Fuego was the pictures I'd seen of men wearing elaborate body paint. I had no idea what prompted this practice, only that I found the images captivating. Hence, my only souvenir - this small etching of a man from the Selk-nam tribe.

It turns out that body painting was most typically worn in connection with the Hain, a coming of age ceremony for young men in the Selk-nam, Yahgan and Haush tribes. The boys would be invited to spend the night in a hut in the wilderness. In the dark of night, "spirits" would attack the boys and scare them half to death. Of course in actuality the spirits were men from the tribe who had painted themselves in elaborate "costumes." At a later initiation ceremony, it would be revealed that the spirits were just fellow tribesmen in disguise and then the story of how the world came into existence would be shared. I don't quite understand what the relationship was between the spirits and the creation story, but that's how it apparently went. Occasionally it was women rather than men who dressed up as spirits and participated in the Hain. Afterwards, they would often laugh at the gullibility of the boys. When this happened, they were killed. I'm just reporting here.  

Ushuaia Prison mural

As we walked the streets of Ushuaia today, art abounded in the form of murals. This mural commemorates the prison that was integral to the development of the city. It took nearly 20 years to construct the prison, which opened in 1920. The labor was done by Argentine prisoners who volunteered for the job in exchange for reduced sentences. Once the prison opened, the 380 cell facility became home to more than 500 prisoners on whom the city became reliant for providing services from construction to baking to tailoring. The facility was closed in 1947 due to concerns about overcrowding. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to visit the Museum of the Prison of Ushuaia. Next time!   

Rosemarie and Libbie with some new friends

This has all been a bit dark, so I'll close with a fun mural featuring some penguins, Libbie and our new friend Rosemarie. Martillo Island (aka "The Penguin Colony") is located 90 km from Ushuaia and hosts Magellanic penguins, Gentoo penguins and, on occasion, King penguins. Tours of the island -- during which you get to walk among the animals -- are limited to a handful of people at a time and are booked up many months in advance. Now that would be fun. Another outing for my next visit to the end of the world. 

Next up -- My final post from the trip -- Buenos Aires!