The Nomadic Alternative – Page 130

initiation rituals reinforced the meaning of the human life cycle, and, like the Kalahari Bushmen, they believed that the stars were human beings who had fixed themselves in the sky after death. In common with other hunting peoples they had the notion of a divisible soul which wandered off in dreams. Their dreams were vivid and comforting, and one of their regrets on being settled on sheep stations was that their dreams had faded. "It is because of the abundant and good food we eat", they said, "and that we too have now learned to prefer. It makes the body and spirit heavy, our dreams are no longer so vivid."

The missionaries taught them the doctrine of the resurrection. The soul, it is true, ascended skywards at death, but the idea that the dead would be rejoined to their loved ones was at best implausible, at worst a piece of missionary trickery. They had no concept of rewards or punishments in the life to come. An untimely death was interpreted as a just reward for an unfulfilled life.

The Yaghan, Gusinde observed, were entirely free of the European mania for possessions. If given an attractive present they would treasure it as a novelty for an hour or so, then present it to the children, who would present it to the dogs. After this it would lie in the mud unwanted. "One could say that they are quite indifferent to material possessions." They adapted their technology to the raw materials that offered themselves on their wanderings. The materials did not dictate the pattern of their movements. They lost their harpoons or collecting baskets without caring because they could always make another in about ten minutes. Prolonged settlement, it is true, would exhaust the resources of one particular place, but there was no economic reason for them to move as often as they did. It was the variety they valued.

Movement may deny the possibility of storage. But, for the Yaghan stockage is superfluous because all the year round and with infinite generosity the sea brings all sorts of animals at the disposition of the man who hunts and the woman who gathers. A storm or an accident never deprives a family for more than a few days. "They bother with the question of a food supply for the days to come ... They question: How they have no supply to fear for the future, and they take no stocks for it. Good year or bad they can wait for the morrow without cares."