Haush

Haush
Manek'enk
Regions with significant populations
 Argentina
Languages
Haush language
Religion
traditional tribal religion
Related ethnic groups
Selknam, Tehuelche, Teushen

The Haush or Manek'enk were an indigenous people, considered the oldest inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, who spoke the Haush language. Their autonym, or name for themselves was Manek'enk.[1] At the time of European encounter and settlement, they inhabited the far eastern tip of the island on Mitre Peninsula. Land to their west, still in the northeast of Tierra del Fuego, was occupied by the Ona or Selk'nam, a related linguistic and cultural group, but distinct.[1]

They made regular hunting trips to Isla de los Estados. [1] The Haush were nomadic hunters, hunting the guanaco. They used every part of it, making clothing out of the skin. They shared many customs with their neighbors the Selk'nam, including the use of small bows and stone-tipped arrows, making clothing from the skins of animals, and an initiation ritual for male youth called hain.[1] Their languages, part of the Chonan family, were similar.

Salesian missionaries ministered to the Manek'enk, and worked to preserve their culture and language. Father Beauvoir prepared a vocabulary. Lucas Bridges, an Anglo-Argentine born in the region, whose father had been an Anglican missionary in Tierra del Fuego, compiled a dictionary of the Haush language.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Furlong, Charles Wellington (December 1915). "The Haush And Ona, Primitive Tribes Of Tierra Del Fuego". Proceedings Of The Nineteenth International Congress Of Americanists: 432–444, 446–447. Retrieved 2009-08-16.


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