page_title: Tehuelche people
section_title: Present-day status of the Tehuelche
hierarchical_section_title: Tehuelche people / Present-day status of the Tehuelche
caption_attribution_description: Español: Rosa Chiquichano
context_page_description: The Aónikenk people, also referred to by the exonym Tehuelche, are an indigenous people from Patagonia in South America, with existing members of the group currently residing in the southern Argentina-Chile borders.
  The name "Tehuelche complex" has been used by researchers in a broad sense to group together indigenous peoples from Patagonia and the Pampas. Several specialists, missionaries and travelers have proposed grouping them together on account of the similarities in their cultural traits, geographic vicinity and languages, even though the languages they spoke amongst themselves were not related to each other and their geographic distributions were extensive
context_section_description: According to the unfinished "National Indigenous Census" (1966–1968), there were only a few Tehuelche descendants that spoke the Tehuelche language. The population of Tehuelche descent that has remained the most attached to their culture is located in the central plateau of the Santa Cruz Province, although the population is intermixed with those of other descents. The census recorded that in Santa Cruz Province:
  Deseado Department: 28 Tehuelches, no Aonekko 'a'ien speakers.
  Güer Aike Department: 44 Tehuelches, 24 Aonekko 'a'ien speakers. Camusu Aike Settlement.
  Lago Argentino Department: 36 Tehuelches, 14 Aonekko 'a'ien speakers. The Cerro Índice Settlement with 5 families (24 people).
  Lago Buenos Aires Department: 6 Tehuelches, 2 Aonekko 'a'ien speakers.
  Río Chico Department: 52 Tehuelches, 11 Aonekko 'a'ien speakers. 2 Tehuelche settlements in this department: Lot 6 with 34 inhabitants, and Lot 28 bis with 3 families.
  There were also inter-mixed marriages in Tres Lagos, Puerto San Julián, Gobernador Gregores and Río Gallegos.
  The "Complementary Survey of Indigenous peoples" (ECPI) 2004–2005, supplementary to the "2001 National Census of Population, Household and Housing," resulted in the recognition of 4351 people descended from the first generation of Tehuelche people in the Chubut and Santa Cruz Provinces. Another 1664 considered themselves Tehuelche within the city of Buenos Aires and the 24 partidos of Greater Buenos Aires; with 4575 in the rest of the country. In all of Argentina 10,590 people considered themselves Tehuelche.
  The 2010 National Population Census in Argentina revealed the existence of 27,813 people who considered themselves Tehuelche throughout the country, 7924 in the Chubut Province, 4570 in the interior of the Buenos Aires Province, 2615 in the Santa Cruz Province, 2269 in the Río Negro Province, 1702 in the city of Buenos Aires, 844 in the Mendoza Province, 738 in the Neuquén Province and 625 in the La Pampa Province.
  There are currently Tehuelche settlements in the Santa Cruz Province including:
  Camusu Aike Territory: 180 km northwest of Río Gallegos, recognized in September 2007 with legal entity status.
  Lago Cardiel Lot 6: Between Gobernador Gregores City and San Martín Lake.
  Lago Cardiel Lot 28 bis: Close to Gobernador Gregores City.
  Cerro Índice: 40 km southeast of Viedma Lake and 50 km south of Tres Lagos.
  Copolque (or Kopolke): Located in the Leandro N. Alem Settlement in the surrounding area of Las Heras in the Deseado Department.
  There are some bilingual Aonekko 'a'ien speakers in these settlements; the rest speak Spanish.
  There are two reservations located in the Chubut Province. El Chalía, the Manuel Quilchamal community, in the Río Senguer Department, located 60 km from the Doctor Ricardo Rojas village. El Chalía was created in 1916 with 60,000 ha, but today its area has been reduced to 32,000, with 80 residents. Loma Redonda is a reservation located between Río Mayo and Alto Río Senguer, with 30 residents. 17.65% of the people inhabiting these reservations are bilingual in Spanish and Mapudungun and the rest speak Spanish. The 1991 census only reported two elderly women with memory of the Aonek'o 'a'ien language.
  Since 1995, the Instituto Nacional de Asuntos Indígenas (INAI), or National Institute of Indigenous Affairs, began recognizing the legal status of indigenous communities in Argentina through registration in the National Registry of Indigenous Communities (Renaci). Among these were 2 Tehuelche communities in the Santa Cruz Province and 4 Mapuche-Tehuelche communities in the Chubut, Río Negro, Buenos Aires and Santa Cruz Provinces:
  Santa Cruz Province (Tehuelche People)
  Copolque Community (in the Deseado Department, 5 June 2007)
  Camusu Aike Community (in the Güer Aike Department, 14 September 2007)
  Santa Cruz Province (Mapuche-Tehuelche People)
  Nehuen Mulfuñ Community (in the city of Pico Truncado in the Deseado Department, 25 March 2014)
  Chubut Province (Mapuche-Tehuelche People)
  Vuelta del Río Indigenous Community (in the Cushamen Department, 24 February 1997)
  Río Negro Pr
caption: Rosa Chiquichano, of Tehuelche descent. A past member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, representing the Chubut Province.[33][34]
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