Cristina Calderón facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Illustrious Daughter of the Region of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Cristina Calderón
Calderón in 2013
Born	(1928-05-24)24 May 1928 Robalo, Puerto Williams, Chile
Died	16 February 2022(2022-02-16) (aged 93) Punta Arenas, Chile
Occupation	Ethnographer, craftswoman, writer, cultural activist
Known for	Last known native speaker of the Yaghan language and last living full-blooded Yaghan person
Children	10, including Lidia González

Cristina Calderón Harban (born May 24, 1928 – died February 16, 2022) was a very important Chilean woman. She was an ethnographer, a craftswoman, a writer, and a cultural activist.

Cristina was the last person who was fully Yaghan. The Yaghan are an indigenous group from Tierra del Fuego. She was also the last native speaker of the Yaghan language, which is the language of her people. People often called her "Abuela", which means "grandmother" in Spanish.

Growing Up Yaghan

Cristina Calderón was born in Robalo, a place near Puerto Williams on Navarino Island, on May 24, 1928. Her parents were Juan Calderón and Carmen Harban.

When she was only four years old, Cristina became an orphan. Her grandparents, Williams Harban and Julia, took her in and raised her. They taught her all about the Yaghan culture and traditions. Life with her grandparents was difficult, and Cristina often went hungry.

After her grandfather passed away, her aunt "Granny Gertie" and uncle Felipe raised her. They continued to teach her the Yaghan language. As a child, Cristina listened to many stories about her people's history. She learned how to hunt and how to create beautiful traditional handicrafts by watching her aunts.

Cristina only spoke the Yaghan language until she was nine years old. She learned to speak Spanish from her friends. Her Aunt Gertie, who had lived at an Anglican mission, also taught her some English. Because she was Yaghan, Cristina and her family sometimes faced unfair treatment from others in the area.

Family Life

Cristina first got married when she was 15 years old to an older man named Felipe Garay. This decision was made to help her financially, as he could provide for her. Felipe passed away in 1948.

Later, Cristina married Lucho Zárraga, a Selk'nam man. He worked as a shepherding headman. They had five children together. Lucho died in 1962.

In 1964, Cristina met her third husband, Teodosio González. He was a sheep shearer. Cristina had known Teodosio since she was young. They had a very close relationship and stayed together until Teodosio's death in 2009.

Later Years and Legacy

People in her community often called Cristina "Abuela Cristina" or simply "Abuela" (Grandma). She worked with her granddaughter, Cristina Zárraga, and her sister Úrsula Calderón to publish a book. This book, called Hai Kur Mamashu Shis (I Want to Tell You a Story), was published in 2005 and shared Yaghan legends and stories.

Her granddaughter Cristina Zárraga and her husband Oliver Vogel also created Yagankuta in 2010. This was a dictionary and storybook of the Yaghan language, based on interviews with Cristina Calderón. In 2017, a book about Cristina's life was published by her granddaughter, titled "Cristina Calderón, Memorias de mi abuela Yagán" (Cristina Calderón, Memories of my Yaghan Grandmother).

As of May 2019, Cristina lived in Villa Ukika, which is near her hometown of Puerto Williams. She was a mother of ten children and a grandmother to 19 grandchildren by 2017. Cristina spent her time making traditional handicrafts and sharing the Yaghan culture and language with her family. Her daughter, Lidia González, was chosen in 2021 to represent the Yaghan people in the Chilean Constitutional Convention.

Cristina Calderón passed away on February 16, 2022, at the age of 93. She died in Punta Arenas. Her daughter, Lidia González, announced her death. The governor of the Magallanes Region declared three days of mourning for the region. Gabriel Boric, who was the president-elect of Chile at the time, said that her "teachings and struggles... will remain alive forever."

Special Recognition

The Government of Chile recognized Cristina Calderón as a very important person for keeping and sharing the traditional culture and language of the Yaghan people.

She was officially called Illustrious Daughter of the Magallanes Region and Chilean Antarctica. The National Council of Culture and the Arts also recognized her as a Living Human Treasure. This honor is part of a special agreement by UNESCO to protect important cultural heritage. She was also nominated as one of fifty heroines for Chile's Bicentennial of Chile celebration in 2010.

Images for kids

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  Traditional Yahgan basket, woven by Abuela Cristina Calderón

See also

In Spanish: Cristina Calderón para niños