> Around the Straits of Magellan and beyond that pass lived the
> Yahgans, a strong and maritime race that used canoes made of tree
> trunks hollowed by fire.They lived ashore in primitive branch huts
> covered with guanaco or sea lion skins, which thy also used for clothing.These
> people were gatherers of shellfish rather than hunters. They fed on
> anything that came their way, a beached whale was a feast for them,
> but the system required to be constantly on the move and they sailed
> the channels around and beyond Tierra del Fuego and ventured around
> the Horn. Fitz Roy and Darwin met them there. They rarely went far
> from land or sailed at night. Today, this race is almost extinct.
> European diseases brought by the missionaries decimated the once numerous
> tribes. A few Yaghans, mostly of mixed blood, survive near the Naval
> Base at Puerto Williams. Occasionally, Chilean Navy patrols have sighted
> isolated individuals and even families living in the wild.

Wow, thanks Mark. This is just the link I was lookin' for. How'd you find it? My search turned up only a few links, mostly to the online Encyclopedia Brittanica (which, truth be told, was pretty lame).

Karl