The dugout canoe is one of the earliest forms of sailing craft, used in different parts of the world. For the Yahgan people of Tierra del Fuego, it was an essential element in their itinerant lifestyle, and whole families spent many hours aboard. Travelling the sea channels in search of marine foodstuffs, they always kept a fire lit in the bottom of the canoe.

Although the Yahgans in this image had settled semi-permanently near an Anglican mission, they had not yet abandoned their traditional means of transport. For more images of this mission, see the Tekenika Album.