Tehuelche

Patagonian camp, 1838

Tehuelches is a collective name for some native tribes of Patagonia and the southern pampas region. They are also called Patagonians.^{[citation needed]}

It is possible that the stories of the early European explorers about the Patagones, a race of giants in South America, are based on the Tehuelches, because the Tehuelches are typically tall.^[1] According to the 2001 census [INDEC], there were 4,300 Tehuelche in the provinces of Chubut and Santa Cruz, and a further 1,637 in other parts of Argentina.

Language

The Tehuelche originally spoke Tehuelche, a Chon language, but later, with the Araucanization of Patagonia, many tribes started to speak variants of Mapudungun. Actually, their own name, Tehuelche, comes from that language.

References

1. ^ Fondebrider, Jorge (2003). "chapter 1 (Ámbitos y voces)" (in Spanish). Versiones de la Patagonia (1st edition ed.). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Emecé Editores S.A.. pp. 29. ISBN 950-04-2498-3. 

External links

• (German) Christine Papp: Die Tehuelche. Ein Ethnohistorischer Beitrag zu einer jahrhundertelangen Nicht-Begegnung. A dissertation. Universitãt Wien, 2002. (PDF)
• Native Patagonians - Contains primary sources and reference material.

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