Savage: The Life and Times of Jemmy Button

by Nick Hazlewood

A tale of tragedy, catastrophe, and the triumph of the human spirit.In 1830 a Yamana Indian boy, Orundellico, was bought from his uncle in Tierra del Fuego for the price of a mother-of-pearl button. Renamed Jemmy Button, he was removed from his primitive nomadic existence, where life revolved around the hunt for food and the need for shelter, and taken halfway round the world to England, then at the height of the Industrial Revolution. He learned English and Christianity, met King William IV and Queen Adelaide, and made a strong impression on many of the major figures in Britain, eventually becoming a celebrity. Charles Darwin himself befriended the Fuegian and later wrote about their time together on The Beagle , voyaging back to the southern tip of South America. Their friendship influenced one of the most important and controversial works of the century, On the Origin of the Species .Upon his return to Tierra del Fuego, Jemmy found that life could never be the same for him there. The Beagle 's captain deposited the young man on a lonely, windswept shore and charged him with the tasks of "civilizing" his people and bringing God to his homeland. At first ostracized and attacked by other Fuegians, Jemmy later became the target of zealous and ambitious missionaries. Thirty years after his return, a missionary schooner in Tierra del Fuego was attacked, with nearly everyone on board killed, and Button himself was accused of leading the massacre.Button's life story illustrates how the lofty ideals of imperialism often resulted in appalling consequences. Thoroughly researched and remarkably well written, this fascinating and poignant story is ultimately about survival, revenge, murder, and the destruction of a whole race of people, blurring the boundaries of civilization and savagery.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Travel, Science, Indigenous

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband and I took a cruise around South America years ago and one of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the area called Tierra Del Fuego, a wild and beautiful area of waterways and backwaters at the tip of Argentina and Chile near Cape Horn. Its crown jewel is the city of Ushuaia, a lovely village nestled at the foot of the Andes Mountains. We traveled on the Beagle Channel and other waterways explored by Charles Darwin and Captain Robert FitzRoy on his ship The Beagle. I guess this is the reason I picked up this book at a used book store (I don't remember where or when).

This non-fiction volume explores the life and times of a Yamana Indian boy named Orundellico, who was discovered by FitzRoy among the natives (Fuegians) of that area during his exploration in the 1830's. The boy was purchased from his family for a button, and his name changed to "Jemmy Button". He was taken to England to be "civilized and educated," so that he could be returned to his people and do the same for them.

This story serves as an indictment of the 19th Century European (in this case, British) approach to the expansion of "civilization", either through missionary endeavors or through military conquest - with the same result - the destruction of "savages". The book also told about Charles Darwin and his studies on evolution. There was a cast of characters worth reviewing: founders and members of the Patagonian Missionary Society, the various missionaries and do-gooders who constructed a mission on the Falkland Islands (another interesting stop on our South American cruise!) for Jemmy and other natives. The results of their efforts were mixed, and I won't spoil the ending.

Suffice it to say, this was a very interesting and enlightening book about European attitudes toward natives and the consequences of their actions. This book was doubly interesting to me because I have walked and sailed through the setting of this story, but approximately 150 years later.

[Eduardo Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of Jemmy Button (English name given to a native) is a reflection of how tragic the "westernization" process was for the natives of "Tierra del Fuego". A different faith compared to the tribes further north but nevertheless a tragic one. There is also not a lot of information regarding the tribes of this area, which makes this book particularly interesting. Also worth it if you are fan of Darwin and his trip in South America.

[Joaquim Pedro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say the book is divided in two parts.

The first is almost the entire book, where the author explore the history of Orundellico and the Fueguian people through the European leans.

Therefore, the native are depicted as poor and lack in culture as well as, when inserted in the “civilising” process, naive to the European cultures and sometimes unable to understand the fundamental principles of their society, as property.

The second one, which comprise only the last chapter, the Author than describe the true face os the colonisation and it cruel impacts in the natives, whom were victims of ruthless genocides, and also the complex structure of the natives culture and societies, ignored by the Europeans since nowadays.

Despite that, the book is a must read and very well written, with a profound research beneath it.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly-charged history of a confrontation between enlightened, scientific European sensibilities and a superficially-primitive, un-civilisable? band of Tierra del Fueguans at the very edge of the world. Hazlewood, an enlightened, liberal European himself, chooses to tell the tragic & sobering story through the life of one of these 'primitives', dubbed Jemmy Button. The clash between the two sides of an insoluble divide - there are also violent divisions within the two sides themselves! - encompasses so many areas, both geographically & anthropologically, which cast a shadow over the careers of renowned figures like FitzRoy & Darwin but provide a welcome light on an unknown - at least to me! - chronology of the South Atlantic, Cape Horn, Patagonia, colonial Argentina & the Falkland Isands. I read this slowly & carefully, endeavouring to grasp the writer's underlying message to readers; such tortuous encounters rarely reap a harvest. The gulf between such worlds is almost insurmountable, with good intentions marking a road to hell in the bleak & inhospitable lands of the Fuegans. Not an easy read then, but worth the effort to persevere with for its stark realities.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book at a book exchange at a marina in the Gulf Islands this summer and ended up leaving it at the book exchange at the Port of Kingston. Now I wish I hadn't. The story has stayed with me, and I'd like to read it again. It is a factual account based on the journals, logs, correspondence, and internal memos of sea captains, Charles Darwin, the British Foreign Office, the Patagonia Missionary Society, the governor of the colony, and contemporary newspapers. It tells the story of Jemmy Button, an adolescent native of Tierra del Fuego who, with three others were taken aboard the HMS Beagle and carried to England where the Captain planned to teach them industry and piety and then return them to bring the benefits of civilization to their people. The book is well-researched and balanced. The story is ultimately tragic -- a case of good intentions leading to bad ends. If you find it, grab it.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I surprisingly learned about Jemmy Button this year when I read a children's book about Charles Darwin. This story is much bigger than the story of one man -- well written, excellent historical information, it is about people, exploration, early missionary work -- and their mistakes, Patagonia, stormy seas, native peoples ... controversial, heart-breaking, thrilling ... and filled with fascinating bits of information about science, history, culture, and the arts from this era. The book will compel you to want to know and understand more. Sadly, there is not as much information about the women mentioned in the book, but there is plenty about everyone else and the writing is clear and well researched. There are especially interesting tidbits for those interested in anthropology, anthropological linguistics, and indigenous studies.

[Barry Embling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly researched piece of sometimes compelling writing by the historian author. I used it for part of my research for a talk I gave about Charles Darwin. Quite dense and can be heavy going; it's a reference and a story book that works well as both. A listed chronology would have been useful for the many events and people in the book. The index is v useful for reference. The author deserves a great deal of credit for pulling this all together and telling some almost unbelievable stories from a time now long gone, about a now extinct race of people, arrogant European attitudes, combined with the details of the exploration of South America by Darwin and The Beagle.

[Frode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jemmy Button was the name given to a native of Tiera del Fuego by his captives. The book is about Jemmy and his people in the early 1800's and the impact that Europeans had on them.

[Alexandra Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and it inspired me to go to Patagonia!

[Cate Forster · Rating 1 out of 5]

A struggle