Cristina Calderón of Robalo, Puerto Williams

Puerto Williams

Puerto Williams is a Chilean port, located on Isla Navarino facing the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, one of four provinces located in the Magellan and Chilean Antartica Region...

, on Navarino Island, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, is the last living full-blooded Yaghan person. By 2004, Calderón (often referred to as simply Abuela) and her sister-in-law Emelinda Acuña were the only two remaining native speakers of the Yaghan language

Yaghan language

Yagán , also known as Yámana and Háusi Kúta, is one of the indigenous languages of Tierra del Fuego, spoken by the Yagán people...

. After Acuña died at 84 years of age (October 12, 2005), Calderón became the last living full-blooded Yaghan person. With her granddaughter Cristina Zarraga and her sister Ursula Calderon she published a book of Yaghan stories called Hai Kur Mamashu Shis (Quiero contarte un cuento) [I Want to Tell You a Story] in 2005.

External links

• Cristina Calderón and Japanese man, photo on November 2003 (in Japanese)
• Hai kur mamashu shis Ediciones Kultrún, Validivia, Chile, 2005 (bilingual Spanish/English edition) 80 pages ISBN 956-7291-48-9