The Poyas were a subgroup of indigenous Tehuelche people living in the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 of Llanquihue

Llanquihue Province

Llanquihue Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Los Lagos . Its capital is Puerto Montt. Chile's second largest lake, Lake Llanquihue, is located in the province as well as four volcanoes: Osorno, Calbuco, Puntiagudo and Cerro Tronador....

 and Palena Province

Palena Province

Palena Province is one of the four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Los Lagos . Due to the eruption of Chaitén Volcano and the subsequent destruction of Chaitén, Futaleufú is since March 2009 the new capital of Palena Province. The private Pumalín Park is located in the province as is...

 as well as on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake

Nahuel Huapi Lake

Nahuel Huapi Lake is a lake in the lake region of northern Patagonia between the provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén, in Argentina. The lake depression consists of several glacial valleys carved out along faults and Miocene valleys that were later dammed by moraines.Nahuel Huapi lake, located...

 in present day Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. The Jesuit priest Nicolás Mascardi

Nicolás Mascardi

Nicolás Mascardi was an Italian jesuit priest and missioner in South America in the 17th century. He arrived to Chile in 1651. In 1669 he crossed the Andes from Chiloé Archipelago and did notably established a mission in the shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake which lasted until his death...

divided the Poya language into two linguistically distinct groups the one spoken by the "comarcanos" of Nahuelhuapi and another one spoken further east as far away as to the Atlanctic Ocean.