History of Patagonia

Patagonia has been inhabited since 10.000BC.

Patagonia gets its name from the Spanish who called them "Patagonies" as the Aboriginal hunters were tall and had big feet.

From the beginning the southern part of what is now Argentina and Chile, was called Patagonia.

The little existent knowledge and the maps that were not very occurate made it difficult to determine the region.

Since 1878 Patagonia from the Audes to the Atlantic was officially declared Argentinean national territory.

Before the Europeans arrivedin Patagonia, it was very little populated. In the north lived the Mapuches (The name Mapuche means people of the land) and other tribes.

In the south lived the people who spoke the “chon” lenguaje: alacachufes, chonos, huarpes and yaganes.

The first inhabitants in what is now Rio Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz were the “Tehuelches” they were “nomads”, they move around in groups of 100 people.

The local languaje “tehuelche” means “fierce people”.

The Tehuelches lived of ñandu, guanaco, and hares. The hunting gear was bow and arrow, spears, boleadoras (stones tied to rawhide ropes).

Nowadays the Tehuelche group is very small.

Most of them work as foremans and farmhands.


                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                               Giuliana Miranda