The Guayaneco Archipelago () is an archipelago in southern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. It consists of 2 main islands, Wager Island (to the east), :es:Isla Byron (to the west), and many smaller islands. It was heavily glaciated during the most recent ice age. These glaciers dissected these mountain islands into a series of deep river valleys and glacial troughs. Today these glacial troughs are deep channels and

fjords In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the no ...

. The islands of the Guayaneco Archipelago comprise a series of elongated islands and deep bays that are the traces of a drowned coastal range. A number of deep channels are traversing generally north to south through the islands. These include the

Messier Channel Messier Channel is a channel (geography), channel located in western Patagonia, Chile. It trends north–south between Wellington Island and other Pacific islands and the continent. Maritime traffic traveling south from the Gulf of Penas passe ...

in the lower left portion of the image, and the Fallos Channel near the center of the image. Forests cover the lower slopes of the mountains throughout the many islands. Human settlement on these islands is scarce.

History

The archipelago is thought to have been a cohabitational contact zone between different canoe-faring indigenous peoples living north and south of it.Montgomery Cooper, John (1917). Analytical and Critical Bibliography of the Tribes of Tierra Del Fuego and Adjacent Territory. p. 40. John Montgomery Cooper points out that it possibly made up a "meeting ground of quasi-friendly bilingual tribes". The islands were first reached by

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s based in Chiloé in 1613. In 1741 the British warship (a part of Commodore George Anson's squadron) ran aground at Wager Island, Guayaneco Archipelago. The survivors of the wreck were rescued by a party of indigenous Chono travelling in dalcas and led by Martín Olleta. Following the forceful depopulation of Chonos Archipelago by the Spanish in the 18th century, many Chonos sought refuge in the Guayaneco Archipelago. With some likehood, this led to the assimilation of Chono families into the Kawésqar who survive into the present.

References

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Archipelagoes of Chile Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Islands of Aysén Region Islands of Magallanes Region + {{Aisén-geo-stub