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WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Torres del Paine

Place names almost always provide a fascinating window into a region’s past. The Paine massif probably takes its name from the Tehuelche world for ‘blue’, paine. The Tehuelche, the indigenous inhabitants of this part of Patagonia, have also left their legacy in other place names (pehoé means ‘hidden’, as in Lago Pehoé; baguales means ‘wild horses’, as in Sierra Baguales; as well as in the names of various plants and animals. And the correct pronunciation should really be ‘pine-ay’, not ‘pain’.

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region covering the southernmost part of South America, made up of the southern parts of Argentina and Chile. The name ‘Patagonia’ derives from the description of the native Mapuche population by Antonia Pigafetta, in his record of the voyage of Magellan. Pigafetta described the Mapuche as ‘Patagones’, which has long been considered to have meant ‘big feet’ or ‘big footed’ in Spanish – although while pata does indeed mean foot, there is no real explanation for the -gon suffix. His description gave rise to enduring legends of a race of giants inhabiting the wilds of southern South America. His description tells us as much about the teller as the subject – the average height for an adult male Mapuche was 5′ 11″, while that of the average Spaniard at that time was 5′ 1″.