The Chono, or Guaiteco were a nomadic indigenous people or group of peoples of the archipelagos of Chiloé, Guaitecas and Chonos.
The Chono people lived as hunter-gatherers traveling by canoe.
Much of what is known from Spanish sources on Chonos is filtered by a Huilliche worldview, as Huilliches and Huilliche language was used to communicate with Chonos.
Physical appearance
Together with other canoe-faring peoples of western Patagonia, the Chono people shared the physical features of being of low stature, being long-headed (dolichocephalic) and having a "low face". In the opinion of Robert FitzRoy who saw the Chono people in the 1830s, they were more muscular and with a more beautiful appearance when compared to canoe-farers further south. Alberto Achacaz Walakial, himself a Kawésqar born around 1929, said that the Chono people were taller and of darker skin than his people. He also added that their noses and faces were longer.
Study of Chono bones reveal they were prone to suffer joint problems, infectious diseases and in some cases traumatic injuries. These diseases were associated with their lifestyle.
History
Pre-Hispanic era
Scholar Alberto Trivera considers that there is no continuity between the human culture seen in the archaeological site of Monte Verde and any historical group. According to archaeologist Ricardo E. Latcham the Chono people along other sea-faring nomads may be remnants from more widespread indigenous groups that were pushed south by "successive invasions" from more northern tribes.
The Chono people are believed to be Chiloé Archipelago's first ethnically identifiable inhabitants. This has led to the assumption that the Chono were the people who left behind most of the abundant shell middens () of Chiloé Archipelago, yet this claim is unverified. There are various place names in Chiloé Archipelago with Chono etymologies despite the main indigenous language of the archipelago at the arrival of the Spaniards being Veliche. A theory postulated by chronicler José Pérez García holds the Cuncos settled in Chiloé Island in pre-Hispanic times as a consequence of a push from more northern Huilliches who in turn were being displaced by the Mapuche. As such, some historians consider that places as far north as the coast of Osorno and Llanquihue Lake were once within the range of Chono nomadism.
Archaeologist and ethnographer Ricardo E. Latcham built upon these notions and held the Chono arrived to Guaitecas Archipelago from Chiloé Archipelago after these were invaded by groups of Mapuche culture (Huilliche, Cuncos, etc.) from the mainland in the 13th century.
Colonial era
The Chono people met Europeans for the first time when the naval expedition of Francisco de Ulloa arrived at their lands in 1553.
In the late 16th-century and early 17th-century there were various Spanish incursions aimed to bring Chono to the Spanish dominions of Chiloé. These incursions turned into outright slave raids following the 1608 decree of King Philip III of Spain that legalized slavery of "indigenous rebels". This was an abuse of the law since the Chono, in contrast to the Mapuche who had destroyed seven Spanish cities in their 1598–1604 uprising, had never rebelled. The Chono people were not the only ones to suffer from the slave raids organized by the Spanish from Chiloé; so did also the Huilliche of Valdivia, Osorno, and indigenous groups from Nahuel Huapi Lake across the Andes. Some Chono slaves may have been exported north to the Spanish settlements of Central Chile which was becoming a melting pot for uprooted indigenous peoples. The Spanish not only obtained the Chono people as slaves during raids but also from other Chono people who sold their own people. While some Chono people were turned into outright slaves, others ended up in the encomienda system of servitude.
Spanish interest in the lands of the Chono appear to have declined after the 1675 Antonio de Vea expedition. Nevertheless, in 1710 a large group of Chono arrived voluntarily at the Spanish settlement of Calbuco escaping from internal conflicts. The Spaniards decided to settle this group in Guar Island.