Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum

Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum

Museo Antropológico Martín Gusinde
File:Museo.MartinGusinde.Exterior.jpg Front to the Museum in winter
Established	1975
Location	Aragay / Gusinde, Puerto Williams
Type	Archaeology museum
Collection size	almost 4,000 pieces
Visitors	4,905
Director	Alberto Serrano
Website	Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum

Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum is an anthropology museum in Puerto Williams in southernmost Chile. It is the southernmost museum of the world. The museum hosts artifacts, maps and photographs related to the Yahgan people. Samples of local flora and fauna are also displayed as well as photographs and text from the founding of Puerto Williams.

History

Before the museum was founded, archeological materials from the island’s coastal areas as well as objects of historical interest were collected and exhibited in then-Mixed School N°3 of Puerto Williams.

The museum was proposed and built by the Chilean Navy in 1974, partly using Alerce wood, and named after Martin Gusinde, an Austrian anthropologist who worked in Tierra del Fuego between 1918 and 1924.

Exhibit

The aim of the exhibition is to "inspire the conservation of the cultural and natural heritage of the region". In two floors and three halls and 810 m², the museum offers a variety of perspectives on the history and culture of the region:

First floor

The first floor shows photographs, maps, objects as a synthesis of the history of the Yahgan people, the firsts exploration by Europeans and Chileans (1520-1890) and the gold rush from 1890 to 1950.

Hall A:

Articulating the Myths, a Meeting of Perspectives: The reproduction of a canoe in the center of the hall symbolizes the spirit and heart of the Museum: the museum as a canoe, a vessel that enables people to travel to other shores.

File:MartinGusinde.Sala1.JPG

In hall B of the Museum: Trace of a Presence

Hall B:

Secrets of the Canoe World

1 Primordial Patagonia describes the prehistory of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, which is generally considered to date from around 11,000-12,000 years ago, towards the end of the Ice Age, when the first bands of land-based hunter-gatherers reached Última Esperanza, the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego.

2 Nomads of the Sea regards the time as the sea waters fell, allowing human groups to quickly populate the region, adapting in ways that allowed them to live in and make use of the marine resources of the region with groups building and sailing small canoes on the ocean.

3 The Yahgans were the southernmost hunters, fishers and gatherers on Earth

4 Trace of a Presence deals with the social organization in the Yahgan group: property, dwellings, marriage and family, political life, clothing, etc.

5 An Unknown Land decribes diverse geographies, climates, fauna, flora and landscapes contained in Patagonia.

6 The Ceremonial Enchantment although the Yahgan’s lacked formal rites and ceremonies to express the complex world of their religious beliefs and ideas, their legacy of religious ideas and moral precepts are both extensive and profound in essence.

7 The Encounter with Others decribes the gradually intensified contact between Europeans and the different native groups, in different ways and circumstances, though most often the natives were at a disadvantage in terms of might and power, with dramatic and harmful results for the survival of these indigenous peoples.

8 Today is Yesterday, they are and live like this shows how most of the descendants of the Yahgan canoe people from Puerto Williams live in Villa Ukika.

9 Secrets of the Canoe World: legends of the Yahgan.

Second Floor

The second floor presents a collection of local flora and fauna and a set of photographs and documents dating back to the foundation of Puerto Williams in 1953.

Hall C:

Tales of Discovery

1 Discovery of the Territory by Europeans, its Exploration and Progressive Recognition, for Europeans, began during the 15th Century of the Christian era and mapped new courses on the seven seas.

2 Adventure in a New World: The discovery of the Strait of Magellan proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, among others, that the Earth was round.

3 Sailing between two oceans allowed the Dutch may be credited with the discovery of the southernmost islands of the continent and the second interoceanic passage, and the legacy of these bold discoverers can be found in local place names today.

4 The Safe Route was established as a channel for communication and trade and a place to search for riches and for piracy.

5 Sovereignty over the southernmost Lands was resolved with the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina

6 Adventurers and Scientists began in the 18 century botanical collections, hydrographic investigations, astronomical observations and ethnographic accounts, not to mention meteorological, geographical and geological studies.

7 Magellan, Beginnings of the Territory’s Explotation of highly desirable skins of sea lions, wreck collecting (foundations, instruments, objects, accessories, tools, merchandise, silverware and, in effect, any and all vestiges or materials that could be recovered from the ill-fated vessels), gold fever, etc.

8 Life is Imposed in the Area through land concessions and colonization, fishing concessions, anthropological missions.

Community work

The museum is involved in in local or neighbourhood work across a range of services including information and advice, counselling, advocacy and support: delivering a Wi-Fi zone, skill enhancement for teachers, art expositions, films exhibition, etc.

Gallery of images

• Model of a canoe done to scale by Martin Gonzalez C., an elder craftsman of the native community.
  Model of a canoe done to scale by Martin Gonzalez C., an elder craftsman of the native community.
• Extern view of the museum in winter
  Extern view of the museum in winter
• Entrance to the museum
  Entrance to the museum

See also

• Puerto Toro

External links

• Official website
• Script of the Museum: "Yaghans, explorers and settlers: 10.000 years of Southern Tierra del Fuego Archipelago History"