Following contact with Europeans, the native Selk'nam and Yaghan populations were greatly reduced by unequal conflict and persecution by settlers, by infectious diseases to which the indigenous people had no immunity, and by mass transfer to the Salesian mission of Dawson Island.
A raíz do contacto cos europeos, as poboacións nativas selk'nam e yámana reducíronse en gran medida polo conflito desigual e a persecución por parte dos colonos, por enfermidades infecciosas, ás cales os indíxenas non tiñan inmunidade, e polo traslado en masa á misión salesiana da Illa Dawson.