Kawésqar

The Kawésqar, also known as the Kaweskar, Alacaluf, Alacalufe or Halakwulup, are an Indigenous people who live in Chilean Patagonia, specifically in the Brunswick Peninsula, and Wellington, Santa Inés, and Desolación islands northwest of the Strait of Magellan and south of the Gulf of Penas. Their traditional language is known as Kawésqar, a word that means “person” or “human being”; it is endangered as few native speakers survive.

In the last century, their population was reduced by massacres and death from colonial diseases. Furthermore, their traditional way of life underwent a major transformation after contact firstly with European sailors and later with Chileans. In the 21st century, most of the Kawésqar live in the village of Puerto Edén and in the cities of Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas.

It has been proposed that the Caucahue people known from colonial-era records either are ancient Kawésqar or came to merge with the Kawésqar.

According to the 2002 census, there were 2,622 people in Chile who declared themselves to be members of the Kawésqar people. In the 2017 census, this figure rose to 3,448 people, and since Chile recognised them under Indigenous Law 19,253 of 1993, they are currently organised into 14 Indigenous Communities.