Vol 25, no 3, October - The Linnean Society of London

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THE LINNEAN 2009 VOLUME 25(3)
might be so called with equal propriety. The inhabitants living chiefly upon shellfish,
are obliged constantly to change their place of residence; but they return at intervals to
the same spots, as is evident from the pile of old shells, which must often amount to
some tons in weight. These heaps can be distinguished at a long distance by the green
colour of certain plants, which invariably grow on them. Among these may be enumerated
the wild celery and scurvy grass, two very serviceable plants, the use of which has not
been discovered by the natives.
“The Fuegian wigwam resembles, in size and dimensions, a haycock. It merely consists
of a few broken branches stuck in the ground, and very imperfectly thatched on one side
with a few tufts of grass and rushes. The whole cannot be so much as the work of an
hour, and it is only used for a few days. At Goeree Roads I saw a place where one of
these naked men had slept, which absolutely offered no more cover than the form of a
hare. The man was evidently living by himself, and York Minster said he was ‘very bad
man’, and that probably he had stolen something. On the west coast, however, the
wigwams are rather better, for they are covered with seal-skins.”
Darwin provides a good description here of the Yámana mode of life. It is strange
though, that the ‘wigwam’ he observed is described as ‘merely consisting of a few
broken branches’, and as ‘very imperfectly thatched’. No doubt these houses sufficed;
they would have represented a bad adaptation to a hard environment if more labourtime
than was necessary were expended on their construction. In a case like this, a
direct comparison might reasonably and legitimately be made between adaptations to
the environment developed by human beings on the one hand and by other animals on
the other.
These people were nomadic hunter-gatherers, spending ‘only a few days’ in any
particular ‘wigwam’; if ‘on the west coast the wigwams are rather better, for they are
covered with seal-skins’, presumably this is either because seals are more available
on the west coast than at Kater’s Peak, or because the weather on the west coast is that
much more inclement, making it worthwhile or necessary to undertake the effort of
protecting homes with seal-skins.
It is unreasonable perhaps to dispute the validity of Darwin’s observations of
Yámana houses. Nevertheless, when one looks at the replicas of typical Yámana houses
outside the Museo Del Fin Del Mundo in Ushuaia, or at old photographs of real ones,
one can only say that they appear extremely well-built, sturdy, functional, and attractive.
Just as the bows and arrows, harpoons, baskets and other utensils on display in the
museums at Ushuaia are very beautifully made; exemplary instances of objects made
both for use and in accordance with aesthetic principles, as William Morris believed
is true of all authentic art and craft.
The comment made by York Minster that Darwin records, indicates that the former’s
English acculturation has turned him into something of a snob, as well as encouraging
him apparently to accuse a man of a crime without evidence or proof.
It is striking that amidst the close and accurate account that Darwin gives of the
Yámana lifestyle, he describes their evidently effective solution to the challenges of
their environment as obliging them ‘constantly to change their place of residence’.
This mode of expressing it implies it is undesirable and abnormal so to live; to stay in
one place indefinitely is desirable and normal. Is it not odd that Charles Darwin, the