RED SKINS IN THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE WORLD. THE VALUES OF BODY PAINTING IN THE HISTORIC-ETHNOGRAPHIC SOURCES ABOUT THE NATIVES FROM TIERRA DEL FUEGO

Abstract

This paper studies the rational and affective values generated by fi rst-hand European observers about the body paintings worn by Fuegian natives. The analysis is based on the critical study of written sources and photographs. A diachronic panorama about the contents of the discourses and practices about these paintings is presented, analysing the images constructed by different authors and their theoretical, ideological and social implications. Thus, different value tendencies are identifi ed (pejorative, indifferent, positive, acculturative, traditionalist, etc.) and these are related with their contexts of production, with the authors´ backgrounds, interests and biases and, in some cases, with the aborigines´ attitudes as subjects of written and photographic records, as well as of acculturation practices. In this way, new light is shed on the nature of the complex process of interaction between two groups of social agents -Europeans and Fuegians- emphasising its consequences over the rich and unusual body painting practices in the fueguian archipelago.