Dictionary Definition
chon
Noun
1 100 chon equal 1 won
2 100 chon equal 1 won
Extensive Definition
The Chon languages were spoken in Tierra del
Fuego and Patagonia. Two
were known to exist - Selk'nam, which
went
extinct in 2003, and Tehuelche. The
Selk'nam people were widely studied by anthropologists such as
Martin
Gusinde and Anne
Chapman, throughout the 20th century; however, their language
was not preserved.
The Tehuelche language is also near extinction.
The Tehuelche peoples - tall nomads of Southern Patagonia - traded
peacefully with
Welsh settlers, but were persecuted by Argentine
authorities. Of some 5,000 in 1900, as of 2005
there are about 20 speakers left. Racially they have been absorbed
by the incomers, and there are many more outsider Indians in
Patagonia than natives now.
The northern Tehuelches were conquered and later
assimilated by the Mapuche during the
Araucanization
process. Some 900,000 Mapuche continue to live in Chile and
Argentina.
Some Tehuelche learnt Welsh and
left their children with the Welsh settlers to learn the language
and get education; thus there is a solid photographic record of
this people.
External links
chon in Breton: Yezhoù tchonek
chon in German: Chon
chon in Spanish: Lenguas chon
chon in Croatian: Chon
chon in Japanese: チョン小語族
chon in Turkish: Çon dilleri