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This Sunday the unfortunate death of one of the last Kawésqar speaking women and recognized as a Living Human Treasure in Chile for her ancestral knowledge was confirmed. María Ester Edén Wellington, 85 years old and originally from Puerto Edén, lived in the Long Stay Establishment for the Elderly “Cristina Calderón Harban”, where she actively participated in initiatives aimed at the recovery and revitalization of her culture. However, since Saturday 29 she was admitted to the Emergency Department of the Magallanes Clinical Hospital, due to a respiratory decompensation from which she could not recover, as confirmed by the Ministry of Social Development.
In the recent commemoration of the International Day of Indigenous Women, the Seremi de Desarrollo Social, Liz Casanueva, highlighted the figure of Ester, “a faithful representative of the Kawésqar community of Puerto Edén, and who defended the culture of one throughout her life. of the navigating peoples of Patagonia. On this special journey to reconnect with your ancestors, we wish you, symbolically, a good navigation. “
On Wellington Island, south of the Gulf of Penas, is Puerto Edén, whose remains have revealed the occupation of the Kawésqar canoe and nomadic people for 6,000 years. Ester María was born there on September 12, 1934 and never attended an educational establishment, but her cultural wealth was invaluable, because in her youth she dedicated herself to marine harvesting, agriculture, and crafts, such as reed baskets, which he sold to support his family.
He married and had 14 children, of whom only María Felicia González Edén survives today. The Kawésqar community of Puerto Edén was recognized in 2009 as a Living Human Treasure, an official body of recognition that the Chilean State awards to communities, groups and people who are distinguished and highlighted by their peers, for the significant contributions they have made to the safeguarding and cultivation of elements, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Unesco , signed by Chile in 2008.
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