The Poya were a subgroup of Indigenous

Tehuelche people The Tehuelche people, also called the Aónikenk, are an Indigenous people from eastern Patagonia in South America. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Tehuelche were influenced by Mapuche people, and many adopted a horseriding lifestyle. Once a ...

living in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

of Llanquihue and Palena Province as well as on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake in present-day

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The Jesuit priest Nicolás Mascardi divided the Poya language into two linguistically distinct groups: the one spoken by the "comarcanos" of Nahuelhuapi and another one spoken further east as far away as the Atlantic Ocean.

References

History of Patagonia Indigenous peoples in Argentina Pre-Columbian cultures Indigenous peoples in Chile Ethnic groups in Chile Ethnic groups in Argentina Indigenous peoples of the Andes {{SouthAm-ethno-group-stub