Society-ONA

The Ona (O'ona, Aona, Aoniks, Oens) are an American Indian ethnic
group formerly occupying most of the large island of Tierra del Fuego
located between long. 65 degrees-70 segrees 31 min. W by lat. 53 degrees-56
degrees S, at the southern tip of South America. Neighboring peoples
with whom the Ona traded and intermarried were the Alacaluf and the
Yahgan. The Ona are often referred to in the literature as "Foot Indians,"
because they had neither canoes nor horses.

The Ona were divided into two main groups called Haush and Selk'nam,
each of whom was distinct both dialetically and culturally. The Selk'nam
were further subdivided into a northern and a southern branch. Both
of these groups again differed somewhat in language and culture, and
were not on the best of terms. There may have been an ecological basis
for their differentiation, since the northern group occupied the treeless
prairies north of the Rio de Fuego and the Rio Grande, whereas the
southern group occupied the parklands and forest regions south of
that line (Cooper, 1946: 108).

The language of the Ona has been classified by Greenberg (1966) within
a linguistic group that includes Yahgan, Alacaluf, Tehuelche, Puelche,
and Araucanian. This group constitutes a branch of the Andean subfamily
of the Andean-Equatorial language family (Steward and Faron 1959:
22). The previously mentioned linguistic differences between the Selk'nam
and the Haush were quite pronounced, and it has been said that a Selk'nam
could understand a Haush only with a great deal of difficulty.

Since the first European contacts, the Ona population has diminished
disasterously. Lothrop (1928) estimates that around 1850 the Selk'nam
population numbered about 3,600, and that there were approximately
300 Haush. Seventy-five years later, at the time of Lothrop's fieldwork
(1924-25), he reports that there were only 60 to 70 Selk'nam and 2
or 3 Haush. Gusinde (1931) claims, however, that Lothrop was "inaccurately
informed," for in Gusinde's census of 1919, he counted 279 full-blooded
Indians and 15 Indian-White mixtures. By 1930, when Gusinde was writing
up his field data, there were only about 100 full-blooded Indians
left. It is likely that by the middle of the twentieth century, the
Ona had ceased to exist as a distinct ethnic-cultural group.

The reasons for the rapid decline and evident extinction of the Ona
population are no mystery. They are clearly etched in the history
of Ona-White relations, and range from the introduction of new diseases
to deliberate campaigns of extermination against the Indians.

Ona subsistence was based primarily on hunting, particularly of guanaco,
which was the basic staple in their diet. They also hunted fox, small
rodents called tuco tucos, wild fowl, and marine animals. Other subsistence
activities included the gathering of edible fungi, plants, and berries,
the collecting of shellfish and other marine products and, to a limited
extent, fishing. Men did the hunting and fishing, while the women
did the gathering. The Ona had no knowledge of agriculture, and their
only domesticated animal was the dog.

The Ona country was divided into 39 distinct territories, each of
which was held exclusively by a different migratory band ranging in
size from 40 to 120 individuals. Exploitative trespass in a territory
by outsiders was deeply resented and often led to bloodshed and war.
Hunters from other bands were received as guests, however, and were
allowed the use of the land. Property in movables, such as clothing,
adornments, weapons, tools, baskets, and playthings, was owned individually.
Generally, property was acquired through labor, gift, or barter. Acquisition
by inheritance was lacking, since an individual's personal belongings
were burned at his death (Cooper 1946: 119).

Because of the nomadic nature of the Ona, there were no permanent
settlements. Instead, families traveled after game animals, settled
for a few days at the spot where the game fell, and then traveled
on. Huts were of two kinds--the ones used in the open, treeless, northern
region were merely windscreens, while in the wooded south where timber
was available, conical-shaped true huts were constructed.

Descent among the Ona was bilateral. Eskimo cousin terminology was
employed, with all cousins being equated with each other and distinguished
from siblings. The basic social unit was the independent nuclear family.
Real authority among the Ona was vested in the male head of the family
who recognized no higher authoritative headship, and did not accept
orders from any other man. The next and highest level of organization
consisted of the patrilocal, exogamous band, with the nuclear families
grouped into 39 such bands. Each band was independent, had its own
separate, well-defined territory, and recognized the moral leadership
of an elder in the group, who was not actually called a chief and
had no real authority. His office was not hereditary and his influence
was persuasive rather than coercive. In addition to the absence of
chiefs, there also were no social castes or classes, no sibs or moieties,
and no other organized group or secret society.

Gusinde states that, with the exception of band exogamy and a prohibition
against consanguineous relatives, the Ona had complete freedom of
choice in selecting a mate. Ideally, the farther away a bride lived
the more suitable she became as a wife. After a temporary period of
matrilocal residence, the couple, almost without exception, moved
to live permanently with the husband's band. Although monogamy was
the general rule, sororal polygyny did take place on occasion. But
only a small minority of the older men had two wives and it was even
more rare to have three. Sometimes a man would marry a woman and her
daughter by a previous marriage. Public opinion, however, generally
disapproved of polygynous unions. The average age of marriage was
20 years for a man and 15-19 for a girl. However, a man first had
to be tested in the secret ceremonies of the kloketen before he was
permitted to marry and a girl must have had her first menses. Divorce
was relatively rare.

From the available accounts, Ona religion may have been monotheistic
in nature with a belief in a supreme being called Temaukel. Prayers
were addressed to Temaukel at the time of grave illness and two simple,
almost nonreligious, sacrifices were made to this deity on particular
occasions. Other elements of the religion involved mythological ancestors,
forest spirits, and the kloketen spirits. The Ona also conceived of
the existence of a human soul (kaspi) and its continuance after death
in the realm of the supreme being. Ceremonialism was primarily confined
to the kloketen celebration in which young men were initiated into
manhood.

Shamanism was well-developed among the Ona, the shaman being called
xon or yohon. The call to office came through a dream in which the
spirit of a deceased shaman appeared to a person, invited him to seek
the vocation, and finally bestowed upon him its own special songs
and power. Training for this office took two to three years. Since
there was no shaman society or organization, each shaman worked independently,
frequently in deadly rivalry with other shamans. The shaman cured,
controlled the weather and hunting, and helped his group in warfare.
He also functioned as a sorcerer and was often called on to bring
harm to his own or his clients' enemies.

Gusinde (1931), which is properly considered a classic in anthropological
literature, provides a good syntheses and summary of Ona ethnography.

Culture summary by John M. Beierle



Cooper, John Montgomery.
 The Ona.
 In Julian H. Steward, ed.
 Handbook of South American Indians.
 Vol.
 1.
 The Marginal Tribes.
 Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1946: 107-125.
 Greenberg, Joseph H. The languages of Africa.
 Bloominton, Indiana University, 1966.
 Gusinde, Martin.
 Die Feuerland Indianer.
 Band.
 I. Die Selk'nam;
 vom Leben und Denken eines Jagervolkes auf der grossen Feuerlandinsel [The Fireland Indians.
 Vol.
 1.
 The Selk'nam, on the life and thought of a hunting people of the Great Island of Tierra del Fuego].
 Modling bei Wien, Verlag der Internationalen Zeitschrift "Anthropos", 1931.
 32, 1,176 p. illus., maps.
 Lothrop, Samuel Kirkland.
 The Indians of Tierra del Fuego.
 Note on anthropometry by E. A. Hooten.
 New York, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1928.
 244 p. illus., maps, tables.
 Steward, Julian H. Native peoples of South America.
 By Julian H. Steward and Louis C. Faron.
 New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1959.


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