Los Indigenas de Chile

"The program Indigenous Chile - a journey of more than 2,500 miles - invites you to embark upon a fascinating tour to study and enjoy some of the fascinating human history of South America. This is a journey that will examine the surprising capacity of the early human settlers to survive and to flourish in climatic conditions of many different and often harsh extremes. We will travel from the most arid desert on the planet to the most humid and cold forest environment along the coast of Chile. In each habitat, the settlers evolved specific social adaptations to ensure their survival. These have been very specific cultures, and each has represented a unique stage in the evolution of mankind in South America. We shall begin in the north, where you will be surprised and delighted to observe and study the oldest mummies in the world when we visit San Pedro de Atacama, perhaps the archaeological showpiece of Chile. We will continue southward to Central Chile, still the home of the largest ethnic group in this country. Here, most of the ancient traditions are sustained and preserved and one of these cultures has become particularly well known through the wealth of its mythology and the abundance of its legends. Also in this location we shall find the opportunity to examine and study the oldest human settlement in the Americas. Finally our journey will take us to the extreme south, where we will study one of the most improbable of all of the successful human adaptations to high latitudes. These are the Fuegians, the naked sea hunters of Tierra del Fuego. "