They were a nomadic
people, whose livelihood was based on hunting, mainly
birds, complemented with gathering berries, fungi and
wild roots; along with some marine products.
Their perfected and elaborated arrowheads, more efficient
than those of their predecessors, are one of their special
characteristics.
The Selk'nam people are supposed to have been related
to the Aonikenk or southern Tewelche people by a common
branch, from which the first might have separated, occupying
Tierra del Fuego.
Selk'nam is the name used by the nomadic people of Tierra
del Fuego to identify their people and their culture.
That is why this denomination is privileged, since the
name Ona was given to them by the Yagán people
and became popular after the colonization of the Austral
territory, it did not come from the Selk´nam themselves.
This culture possessed a wide and diverse spiritual world
manifested in ceremonies such as the Hain, a ritual initiation
for adolescent males, in which certain secrets tending
towards the preservation of the patriarchy were revealed.
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