Lost Tribes of Tierra Del Fuego : Selk'nam, Yamana, Kawésqar (2015, Hardcover)

$750.00
A striking photographic testimonial to the people of Tierra del Fuego, a society defined by magic, spirits, and communion with nature, In 1919 Martin Gusinde was sent as a missionary to Tierra del Fuego by his German congregation. While his mission was to convert the native people among whom he lived, the opposite took place: Gusinde became one of the first Westerners ever to be initiated into various sacred rites of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego. During the course of four trips made between 1919 and 1924, from the canals of Western Patagonia to the great island of Tierra del Fuego, Gusinde learned and wrote about the Kawesqar, Yamana and Selk'nam peoples. He also took more than one thousand photographs, all produced using a portable darkroom. He captured some truly extraordinary images: feather-clad bodies sporting high head-dresses made of bark, wrapped up in guanaco furs, or entirely covered with ritual paint, populating a landscape battered by wind, rain and snow, at the heart of a natural world that Darwin had noted for its wildness. Martin Gusinde's photographs are a monument to the memory of Tierra del Fuego's people as well as an exceptional anthropological document., A German missionary sent to Tierra del Fuego in 1919 by his congregation, Martin Gusinde was a major Americanist and ethnographer from the first half of the twentieth century. While his mission was ostensibly to convert the native peoples among whom he lived, Gusinde did just the opposite, eventually becoming one of the first Westerners ever to be initiated into the various sacred rites of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego. In the course of four sojourns made between 1919 and 1924, from the canals of Western Patagonia to the great island of Tierra del Fuego, he learned and wrote about the Kawésqar, Yamana, and Selk'nam peoples. Gradually, the missionary became an anthropologist. Fascinated by what he saw, Gusinde took more than one thousand photographs, all produced using a portable darkroom. Gusinde captured some truly extraordinary images that his contemporaries were unable to: feather-clad bodies sporting high headdresses made of bark, wrapped up in guanaco furs, or entirely covered with ritual paint, populating a landscape battered by wind, rain, and snow--the heart of a natural world that Darwin had celebrated, not long before, for its wildness. A dazzling visual experience, Gusinde's photographs are a monument to the memory of the Tierra del Fuego people as well as an exceptional anthropological document., Fascinated by what he saw, Gusinde took more than one thousand photographs, all produced using a portable darkroom. Gusinde captured some truly extraordinary images that his contemporaries were unable to: feather-clad bodies sporting high headdresses made of bark, wrapped up in guanaco furs, or entirely covered with ritual paint, populating a landscape battered by wind, rain, and snow--the heart of a natural world that Darwin had celebrated, not long before, for its wildness. A dazzling visual experience, Gusinde's photographs are a monument to the memory of the Tierra del Fuego people as well as an exceptional anthropological document. 4to hardcover. 300pp. Original tweed over boards. Photographic past on on cover. Red titles on cover and spine. Overall vg. Some insignificant rubbing to head and toe of spine and tips. Minor discoloration or stain on front cover (see photos). Binding is sound. Interior is clean, bright and free from marks.
A striking photographic testimonial to the people of Tierra del Fuego, a society defined by magic, spirits, and communion with nature, In 1919 Martin Gusinde was sent as a missionary to Tierra del Fuego by his German congregation. While his mission was to convert the native people among whom he lived, the opposite took place: Gusinde became one of the first Westerners ever to be initiated into various sacred rites of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego. During the course of four trips made between 1919 and 1924, from the canals of Western Patagonia to the great island of Tierra del Fuego, Gusinde learned and wrote about the Kawesqar, Yamana and Selk'nam peoples. He also took more than one thousand photographs, all produced using a portable darkroom. He captured some truly extraordinary images: feather-clad bodies sporting high head-dresses made of bark, wrapped up in guanaco furs, or entirely covered with ritual paint, populating a landscape battered by wind, rain and snow, at the heart of a natural world that Darwin had noted for its wildness. Martin Gusinde's photographs are a monument to the memory of Tierra del Fuego's people as well as an exceptional anthropological document., A German missionary sent to Tierra del Fuego in 1919 by his congregation, Martin Gusinde was a major Americanist and ethnographer from the first half of the twentieth century. While his mission was ostensibly to convert the native peoples among whom he lived, Gusinde did just the opposite, eventually becoming one of the first Westerners ever to be initiated into the various sacred rites of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego. In the course of four sojourns made between 1919 and 1924, from the canals of Western Patagonia to the great island of Tierra del Fuego, he learned and wrote about the Kawésqar, Yamana, and Selk'nam peoples. Gradually, the missionary became an anthropologist. Fascinated by what he saw, Gusinde took more than one thousand photographs, all produced using a portable darkroom. Gusinde captured some truly extraordinary images that his contemporaries were unable to: feather-clad bodies sporting high headdresses made of bark, wrapped up in guanaco furs, or entirely covered with ritual paint, populating a landscape battered by wind, rain, and snow--the heart of a natural world that Darwin had celebrated, not long before, for its wildness. A dazzling visual experience, Gusinde's photographs are a monument to the memory of the Tierra del Fuego people as well as an exceptional anthropological document., Fascinated by what he saw, Gusinde took more than one thousand photographs, all produced using a portable darkroom. Gusinde captured some truly extraordinary images that his contemporaries were unable to: feather-clad bodies sporting high headdresses made of bark, wrapped up in guanaco furs, or entirely covered with ritual paint, populating a landscape battered by wind, rain, and snow--the heart of a natural world that Darwin had celebrated, not long before, for its wildness. A dazzling visual experience, Gusinde's photographs are a monument to the memory of the Tierra del Fuego people as well as an exceptional anthropological document. 4to hardcover. 300pp. Original tweed over boards. Photographic past on on cover. Red titles on cover and spine. Overall vg. Some insignificant rubbing to head and toe of spine and tips. Minor discoloration or stain on front cover (see photos). Binding is sound. Interior is clean, bright and free from marks.