RESEARCH ARTICLE

Ethnobiology and Conservation, 10:20 (14 February 2021) doi:10.15451/ec2021-04-10.20-1-19 ISSN 2238-4782 ethnobioconservation.com

The southern river ( provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology

Carla Pozzi1and Ana H. Ladio1,∗

ABSTRACT

Animals play a significant role in many cultures around the world. The southern river otter Lontra provocax (known locally as the “huillín”) is endemic to southern and , and is currently in danger of extinction. communities have always lived closely alongside their resources, generating unique bonds with them. The objective of this work is to obtain an overview of the impor- tance given to this species in the literature of the region with regard to the nature-culture connection. A systematic bibliographical review was carried out using reference libraries and web browsers. From all the sources analysed, 110 were selected which held biocultural information. The main approach used was ecological; however, the ethnohistorical texts provided the richest information on the bond between this otter and humans. The Mapuche name “huillín” appears in all the publications analysed, showing its continuity over time. Of all the zootoponyms found, 87.5% were Chilean and 12.5% were Argentine. The Argentine case is found in Nahuel Huapi lake, and is worthy of note as its name could involve the huillín. The results of this work increase our knowledge of the biocultural heritage of our region, and enable us to reflect on the associated historical and political processes.

Keywords: Ethnohistory; Origin; Name; Mapuche; Fauna.

1 Departamento de Conservación y Educación Ambiental, Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. Av. San Martin 24, 8400 , Rio Negro, Argentina. 2 INIBIOMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Quintral 1250, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina. * Corresponding author . E-mail address: AL ([email protected]), CP ([email protected])

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

Our systematic review provides little-known aspects from the huillín (Lontra provocax) ethnozoology, an otter endemic to . The origin of its name in the and its persistence until our days, provides important ethnohistorical data to understand the link between the species and humans. The results of our work allow us to make visible the biocultural heritage of our region and reflect on the associated historical and political processes.

1 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20

INTRODUCTION gentina is found in northern Patagonia, where it in- habits lakes, rivers, streams and lagoons in areas of The study of the nature-culture connection focuses the Andean-Patagonian forest and the steppe, with on the relationship constructed by human beings with narrow, sandy or rocky coasts where there are exposed all that surrounds them (Martínez 2009). In the roots and good plant cover (Chehébar 1985; Medina case of American cosmologies, this relationship is a 1996; Medina-Vogel et al. 2003; Medina-Vogel and close bond where Nature is not separate from every- Gonzalez-Lagos 2008; Sepúlveda et al. 2009). The day cultural practices, and it is constructed mutually, huillín is the “top predator” of the aquatic systems of through processes of coevolution (Levy-Strauss 1972; this area. are so called when they prey on Descola 1996). others, but are not themselves preyed on by any other Animals play a significant role in human cultures animals; they are at the top of the food pyramid, con- around the world, and even in human existence it- trolling the abundance and dynamics of the food chain self. In day to day life they are present as part of (Kruuk 2006; Mason & Macdonald 2009; Chehébar our heritage, both tangible – related to our food, and Ramilo 1992). The scientific epithet provocax medicines, clothing, economy, recreation and com- (Thomas 1908) comes from the Latin meaning to pro- pany, and intangible – artistic expression, legends, voke: to call out, provoke, challenge (Mouchard 2019). and myths. They are important due to their ecological According to several authors (Chehébar 1985; value and because they are so deeply rooted in many Chehébar et al. 1986; Chehébar and Benoit 1988; of the symbolic, spiritual and cultural schemas of hu- Chébez 1994; Fasola et al. 2006), during the 19th and man cultures (Posey 1999; Fita et al. 2009; Hermann the beginning of the 20th centuries the huillín was et al. 2013). In particular, the ways in which ani- much hunted in order to satisfy the demands of the mals are named, counted, and described within local fur industry, causing it to be registered as “in danger languages reflect the strength of this Nature-Culture of extinction”. This situation led to an 80% decrease bond (Vargas and Urrutia 2004). Language is the in its original distribution, and it is now restricted medium used by social groups to develop and inter- to three isolated population nuclei: the southern re- change their perceptions and interpretations of reality, gion of the Limay river basin, the Beagle Channel and and their agreement or dissent (Di Caudo 2016). Staten Island (Fasola 2009). Little is known about the variety of interactions According to archaeological, ethnohistorical and (past and present) human societies have maintained recent records, Mapuche communities have long lived with animals as part of their biocultural heritage alongside their animal resources, generating unique (Alves and Souto 2010). In this work we focus on the bonds with them. These communities have been “huillín” (Lontra provocax), which inhabits Argentine characterised by their mobility in search of animals and Chilean Patagonia (Figure1); this otter has not to hunt, fish and gather (Miotti and Salemme 2004; yet been studied using an ethnobiological approach. Hartmann Navarro 2016). In this context Villagrán We are particularly interested in the Local Ecological (1999) described the rich zoological nomenclature of Knowledge (LEK) registered on this animal up to the Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche people, or present time. LEK has been defined as “a cumula- “the people of the land” (from “mapu” meaning land, tive body of knowledge, practices and beliefs associ- and “” meaning people, or person). Mapudungun ated with the relationship between human beings and is an Andean language, related to other languages their environment, which evolves by means of adap- from Patagonia and the central (Malvestitti tive processes and is transmitted culturally from one 2005). The number of active speakers is estimated generation to the next (Berkes et al. 2000). LEK to be between 100.000 and 200.000, and the num- conveys the etymology of animal names and classifi- ber of passive speakers is thought to be approxi- cations over time, showing the significance of animal mately 100.000 more. This language has influenced species for human populations. the Spanish spoken in its distribution area, and at the The huillín is endemic to the south of Argentina same time, it has incorporated Spanish and Quechuan and Chile, and is currently in danger of extinction words (Hartmann Navarro 2018). (IUCN; Sepúlveda et al. 2015). This amphibious The integration of the animal world into the Ma- , adapted for swimming, inhabits fresh and puche cosmovision is very obvious in the symbolic rep- salt water systems. Its body is hydrodynamic, with resentations of some animal groups (principally rep- a dorsoventrally flattened head, very short legs and tiles, and ) that appear in their myths interdigital membranes on the front and back paws and stories (Villagrán 1999; Aigo and Ladio, 2016). (Lariviére 1999). This species can measure up to 1400 Names given to the geographical environment (zooto- cm in length including the tail, and its weight may ponyms) and the mention of animals in the nicknames reach 15 kg (Lariviére 1999; Sepúlveda et al. 2007). of individuals show the closeness of this bond (Villa- The only stable freshwater population known in Ar- grán 1999). In addition, Mapuche lineages very often

2 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20

Figure 1. Current distribution of the huillín (Lontra provocax) in Argentina and Chile. Areas where the species is present are shown in ochre colour (UICN 2015). have animals as totems (mythical ancestors), which MATERIAL AND METHODS is reflected in the person’s surname (heritage) (Villa- grán 1999). The profound knowledge Mapuche people Qualitative analysis of written sources have of their surroundings translates into an extensive Systematic review of texts was carried out using ethnobiological vocabulary, which has been recorded web browsers (Scopus and Google Scholar) with the by chroniclers and researchers over decades, and cor- following key words: huillín, güillín, tigre de agua roborated today (Hartmann Navarro 2018). Accord- (common names), Lontra provocax, huidobra ing to Castillo and Ladio (2017) and other authors and Castor huidobrius (its current scientific name and (Prates 2009; Vilela et al. 2009), members of the two previous synonyms). Local and regional refer- Mapuche community maintain relationships of reci- ence libraries were also consulted (Universidad de Rio procity and equality with animals, engaging in di- Negro, Grupo de Etnobiología, Museo de la Patago- alogue with them through their ancestors and the nia). As a result, very diverse sources were obtained, forces of nature. Rozzi (2004; 2016), reported that written in scientific and non-scientific language (texts this type of action can only be carried out through written by travellers, for example), in old and mod- Mapudungun. This language, according to its speak- ern Spanish. Bibliographical analysis was based on ers, has the ability to listen to the earth and convey the initial interpretation of 759 texts (Medeiros 2009), its messages in an onomatopoeic way, poetically, and which were then submitted to selection and inclusion in great detail with respect to the ecosystem. criteria (Figure2). Only texts that contributed as- pects associated with LEK on the species were in- The objective of this work is to obtain an overview cluded. of the significance of the huillín in regional litera- ture, in relation to the Nature-Culture connection. Data analysis Through analysis of written sources and from an eth- nobiological perspective, the LEK and role assigned to All the texts were submitted to discourse analysis the species was studied, as well as the origin, signif- techniques, beginning with the general information icance and interpretation of its common name. Fur- (date, location of the work, authors, place of publi- thermore, the huillín was studied in terms of zooto- cation, etc.). In order to systematize the informa- ponymy and heritage. Our results have enabled us to tion, the texts were classified a posteriori into “type discuss the contribution of this kind of approach to of source”, depending on whether it was a scientific the biocultural conservation of faunistic resources. publication (paper, thesis, conference presentation,

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Figure 2. Diagram showing the sources of information found and selected which referred to the huillín. etc.), book or dictionary. They were also organized breaking down the information of interest and clas- according to “type of approach”, based on whether sifying it. Hermeneutic analysis of the texts was also they were ecological, veterinary, genetic, palaeonto- performed, considering the accuracy of the informa- logical, ethnozoological, ethnohistorical, nomenclatu- tion and the historical and philosophical context of ral or related to hunting. the primary authors (Medeiros 2014). In the case of “type of approach”, ethical descrip- Finally, to complete the analysis of the origin of tions were developed from the emic ones found in the the name, we consulted key people belonging to the texts reviewed. It should be pointed out that the emic Mapuche Educational Centre of Neuquén (Centro Ed- focus consists in “the vision from within the society”; ucativo Mapuche de Neuquén [CEMN]) and linguis- that is, it reflects phenomena from the perspective tics experts from the Institute of Research on Cul- of the reality of the culture itself (Pike 1954; Frake tural Diversity and the Process of Change (Instituto 1969). de Investigaciones en Diversidad Cultural y Proceso The relationship between source and approxima- de cambio [IIDYPCA]). tion types was analyzed with a RAWGraphs alluvial diagram (Mauri et al. 2017). Alluvial diagrams al- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION low to represent flows and to see associations between categorical dimensions, visually linking to the number General overview of existing literature of elements sharing the same categories. It is useful on the huillín to see the evolution of cluster (such as the number of publications belonging to a specific group). In addi- From all the sources analysed, 110 were chosen: tion, we used generalized Linear Model (GLM) con- 75 scientific publications (papers, theses, reports and sidering a Poisson distribution, in order to test the in- conference presentations), 28 books and 7 dictionar- fluence of the independent variables (type of approx- ies. The alluvial diagram showed that the different imation and type of sources) on the count of publi- types of sources include different types of approaches, cations (response variable). We only included main where the ecological approximation was predominant effects in the model, and chose Type III analyses and and the ethnozoological was scarcely addressed (Fig. the Wald chi2-statistics. The analyses were performed 3). With regard to “type of source”, papers are broad using IBM SPSS. in approximations, as well, books and chapters that The texts were subjected to a critical review, described aspects of the huillín from diverse “types of

4 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20

approach”: ecological (57%), ethnohistorical (25%), Mosquera-Guerra et al. 2015; Botello et al. 2006; nomenclatural (14%) and ethnozoological (4%) (Fig- Kruuk 2006; Calmé and Sanvicente 2009), and their ure3). We have found that the counts of publications severe overexploitation (Chanin and Jefferies 1978; are influenced by the type of approach and the type Jefferies 1989; Shaler 1990; Mason and Macdonald of source (Figure3, GLM, p < 0.05). The main types 2009), which has been reflected in research interest. of source dealing with this species were scientific pa- The books written by travellers and the dictionaries pers (49%, GLM p < 0, 05) and books (25%, GLM may also have inherited this interest in the species, p < 0, 05). The predominant type of approach in since the travellers generally came from areas where the texts was ecological (65%, GLM p < 0, 05), the otters are known and used. rest of types of approximation were not significant in the model: nomenclatural (14%), veterinary (6%) and The relationship between the Mapuche ethnohistorical (6%), etc. revealing the scientific in- people and the huillín, from an ethno- terest that this species has aroused in the ecological sciences (Figure3). historical perspective Considering papers, the main scientific journals Ethnohistorical texts provide the richest informa- were Biological Conservation, Journal of Zoology and tion on the relationship between the huillín and hu- IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin. The first sci- man beings. According to the sources analysed (Table entific work on this species using this approach was 1) it is notable how 75% (n = 6) of the cases of obser- published in 1908 by Thomas, and the most recent vation of this species have assigned a utilitarian value was published in 2018 by Cianfrani and collaborators. to it, principally in the form of providing humans with The huillín has been the subject of theses in the fields warm furs. The value of its pelt was recognized by the of ecology and ethnozoology (11 theses, 1%) and its fur industry, and was the cause of local and regional name appears in regional dictionaries of the Mapuche extinctions of throughout the world (Chanin language (7 dictionaries, 0.6%) (Figure3). and Jefferies 1978; Jefferies 1989; Mason and Mac- The main subjects dealt with from an ecologi- donald 2009). cal “type of approach” refer to the physical charac- In this type of literature, a health/medicinal value teristics of the species and its behaviour (Thomas has also been assigned to the river otter, to treat ail- 1908; Molina 1987; Chehébar and Martin 1989; Reyes ments. On his journey through Argentine and Chilean Küppers 2007), aspects of its distribution (Chehébar Patagonia (1878), De Rosales writes, “their pelts are 1985; Chehébar et al. 1986; Medina 1991; Porro and very warm, of great use for the headaches produced Chehébar 1995; Chehébar and Porro 1998; Aued et al. by the cold and to correct paralysis”. . . “. . . their 2003; Carmanchahi et al. 2006; Fasola et al. 2006; Fa- bile makes marvellous eye drops against the clouds sola 2009; Pozzi and Chehébar 2013), the character- and cataracts of the eyes”. In cities of Asia and istics of its habitat (Chehébar and Benoit 1988; Med- China otters are used in traditional medicine, with- ina et al. 2003; Astorga et al. 2006; Sepúlveda et al. out specifying the ailment (Kruuk 2006). In India, 2007; Medina and Gonzalez-Lagos 2008; Rodríguez- Lutra perspillita blood is used for cases of epilepsy Jorquera and Sepúlveda 2011), studies on its diet (Kruuk 2006; Nagulu et al. 1999). It has been (Sielfeld 1984; Medina 1998; Fasola et al. 2006; Chou- found that in Brazil Lontra longicaudis is used against pay 2006; Gonzalez-Lagos 2006; Gozzi 2008; Fasola thrombosis (Costa Neto and Alves 2010; Alves and 2009), the effect of the (Neovison vi- Alves 2011) and to cure blisters (Alves and Alves son, an invasive exotic species) (Medina 1997; Cassini 2011). Lontra canadensis has also been cited as hav- 1997; Fasola 2009; Gomez et al. 2010; Valenzuela ing medicinal uses but specific ailments were not spec- 2010; Valenzuela et al. 2013; Medina et al. 2013), and ified (Alves & Costa Neto 2011). its (Sielfeld et al. 1977; Chehébar On the other hand, these books also highlight the 1986; Chehébar and Porro 1998; Sielfeld and Castilla fierceness of this river otter, which has certain physical 1999; Sielfeld 2006; Cassini et al. 2010; Valenzuela et and behavioural characteristics that frighten humans. al. 2011; Sepúlveda et al. 2015). In the first case, Molina (1987) refers to the species: The ecological focus of most of the texts analysed “. . . the huillín is naturally fierce and brave, in such a could be due to the interest aroused historically by way that it runs to steal fish from under the very noses the study of otters in the northern hemisphere (Towei of the fishermen. . . ” In the second case, De Rosales 1974; Melquist and Hornocker 1979; Melquist and (1878) recounts, “. . . it bites with such tenacity that it Hornocker 1979; Melquist et al. 1981; Melquist 1982; doesn’t relax the pressure until you hear the sound of Macdonald 1983; Macdonald and Mason 1983; Mac- bones breaking. . . ” and in the third case, while on a donald and Mason 1984; Macdonald and Mason 1985; journey through Patagonia, Musters (2007) reports, Reid et al. 1986; Mason and Macdonald 1987), their “. . . the Indians said it was impossible for a man to charismatic behaviour (Hajek and Groenendijk 2001; cross that river at its deepest part, past the fjord, be-

5 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20

Figure 3. Alluvial diagram to represent flows and to see relationships between type of sources (left) and type of approach (right) categories, visually linking to the number of elements sharing the same categories. The long of dark bars in both sides represent the frequency of each category. cause of some fierce animals they called “water tigers”, Ulloa (2001) suggests that western notions can- which always attacked and ate anything in the river”. not accurately explain the ideas of other cultural These texts appear to show that the authors agreed systems, or the relationship they establish between with the locals as to the ferocity of the species, but humans and Nature. Nature is felt, conceptualized also used human attributes such as bravery to describe and constructed differently according to social pro- them. cesses based on moral and ideological convictions. In Few ecological details of the species are given in this sense, the ethnohistorical sources written by non- the ethnohistorical texts (Table 1). De Rosales (1850) Mapuche authors (Table1) can show the strong con- writes “. . . it fishes and fills its caves with fish in a nection between the Mapuche people and the river short time”. This behaviour of storing its prey in otter only partially, and in a biased way. The authors caves has not been described up to now in the eco- possibly based their writings on comments made by logical bibliography published on this river otter. It local inhabitants, and reinterpreted them according to would not be strange to think of this species having their own logic. Nevertheless, having recognising the this behaviour, since it is known to eat fish and use courage and the adept, feisty character of the otter, it large caves on the shores of the water bodies where it is likely that these human attributes were valued by lives (Chehébar 1985; Medina 1991). the authors and local inhabitants alike.

6 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20 U/B U/B the information Characteristic of teeth, is aroundtwo three in feet height. in length,a The rabbit’s, from body and the has an pointwhitish a on outer of double the one, its covering belly. much lipsreally of longer The to looks fur: and short the like an courser; hair start velvet.ones. inner takes both of The one, Hats up are its head finer black are blackish tail, ofsmall, and and made on the these and turquoise softer from snout the animals colours than obtuse, it, back is veryon the which and almost mouth well, the square, are adorned and bottom, the with just it having and four ears as incisive a are sixteen good teeth, small short molars; two as and membrane onthe the the rounded, and the animal four top real the the are feet and eyes Beaver long, rear two there are the ones is divided latter being no hangs into completely downand liquid five webbed;the and lakes, toes, like back is where that the and densely it foundsince front tail covered remains it in ones with for of has hair; the long the in periodsthen Beaver. foramen their it of oval groins It goes time of is without the toexcrement found having heart a can to rather certain in be come open, site the seenuntil up like to around deepest nightfall, to seals. deposit these when spots breathe, It rivers. its the ofit. feeds animal faeces Hunters, rivers comes on at guided to fish The the by the and this waterside, huillínthe site crabs; as observation, is very to wait cats naturally defecate, noses there do. and fierce ofit in Piles and is the that of said, courageous fishermen. position, this does they –my In not kill opinion, even this like gestation running to lasts characteristicOtter; to eat no they I steal fish. more differ am fish that The from notof five from female the against months. teeth, under gives Beaver, this, despite Sonnini birth which, its because wanted to form its this two being animal generic or quite to characters three different be are offspring, from an not and that decided in of by the the Otter.” number we ran to theto shore amphibians; and saw theytheir two were aquatic black completely appointment balls by the floating thewater, on heads honest they the Pedro, of allowed and water, themselves two thatfearlessness which to having otters worthy seemed thrown of be to that themselves praise, carried belong into hadthe Pedro the away otters threw been by came himself disturbed out the into towanted the current. in to rest water, bite on armed With Pedro’s a with cold calves, small(..) a he blood tongue stick; gave of We and one him sand; begin of sticks; a therehead finally the a the to inspection singular stunned the combat of animal (...).Thecoated, end the was otter motionless. the of animal. jaws the trimmed Thewhere tail with hair we 80 several was tasted rows centimetres, ashy the of the gray, roast teeth it tail otter (...). measured meat, was At from we only ten had the 25; people to came; the get after legs going”. . a . were lunch membrane- 1810 “. . . the first of them, which I had added to the Beaver because of the similarity of their 1862-1863 . . . “Suddenly I was surprised by the screams of a peon who had gone looking for water (..) Cite Period Textual Information Ethnohistorical descriptions referring to the huillín in books. From the textual information found (emic description), etic descriptions were Molina (1987). Cox (2005). ° N 1 2 Table 1. devised: U (utilitarian), B (behavioural) and/or TP (transfer of power).

7 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20 B U TP U/B U/B a treated pelt thatTequel the Malal, that gave is, me inbefore in Chubut; in Caleufú, it’s that they the said partriver Lutra they of chilensis they had or Patagonia. are caught huillín,local it which In not had south name the abundant not of for Chubut either: been otters) river seen they they are are very known rare as andits “lobitos in lifelike de and the agua”.(water perfect Negro with wolves, portrait the shows a name onfur of their is stamps Lutria, soft, and which the descriptions thecaves teeth by with Spanish yellow Conrad fish and call Gesnero, in sharp, Otter.until a the you short tail hear It time, long the is itheadaches and sound bites reddish-brown produced covered of with in in by bones such fur. colour, the breaking.drops tenacity cold the It that Their against and fishes it pelts the to and doesn’t arefreshwater fills correct clouds relax lagoons. very its paralysis”. the and warm, Many pressure of Their cataracts sayit. great bile that of use it makes the for is marvellous eyes”. a the eye species of They beaver, shelter and close that itdemand to shares for the qualities the rivers with manufactureThe and of ones luxury that overcoats. . stand .the out . . hare, are: . .very huemul, guanaco, little and grey, has pampas red, been deer.” and done Magellanic about , huillín this. or lobito de rio, of great strength,existing employed capacity”, only b) to “. .physiological revive . the properties exhausted contact he reproductive of isof lacking. certain capacity the animals This huillín or (Lutra also happens to huidobra) transfers with onregenerative increase various to rubbing parts strength the the of in the charred Mapuche the body, genital some which elderly.” organs has the virtue of renovating the fjord, becauseand of ate some anything fierce in animalspuma. the they river. “. called . . They that “waterParaná; described tigers”, animal but them which must the as always beNahuel tale yellow attacked the Huapi quadrupeds, of or large, bigger the “isle dark than of Indians otter the the is with tigers.” curious an orangey because chest it that relates exists to in the name of the lake: 1876-1877 “. . . in the rivers in the interior there’s a Lutra that the Indians call the “water tiger”. I have 1878 “. . . among the amphibian animals we have seen here, one is called Guillin by the Indians, and 1900-1901 “. . . in the Patagonian region there are countless skins with very silky fur,1908 which are in great ——– ”. . . I saw a huge pile of skins of a) these ”. . impressive . animals, which the had been huillín hunted has there. been, . . ” and still is, an animal that for the Indians has magical power U 1869-1870 “. . . the Indians said it was impossible for a man to cross that river at its deepest part, past Moreno (1897). De Rosales (1878). Prichard (2003). Chehébar C, Ramilo E (1992). Guevara (1927). Musters (2007). 4 5 6 7 8 3

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The Mapuche origin of the name Lontra Mapuche language means nail, or claw; the “n” at the provocax end means the person who has, or who is. This not only coincides with the claws presented by the species, The Mapuche name “huillín” appears as the com- but also with the idea about its character and the mon name of this species in all the publications anal- role it plays in the natural systems it inhabits: it’s a ysed, revealing the continuity of the name over time. feisty species, with a strong personality, which faces This is not a minor detail, since many animal names up to other species or forms of life. This description have been replaced by others in Spanish. speaks of with the ecological role of the species as According to the bibliography analysed, the origin a top predator (Kruuk 2006; Mason and MacDonald of the common name “huillín” has been little stud- 2009; Chehébar and Ramilo 1992). ied except for in the work of Chehébar and Ramilo (1992), who briefly mentioned “its name comes from The huillín as a zootoponym the Araucanian word (attributed to the Mapuches) “huyli” which means nail or claw, because of its well- As regards the zootoponyms found (Table3), developed claws”. The existing Mapuche language dic- 100% corresponded to the diverse aquatic environ- tionaries we consulted did not describe the etymology ments inhabited by the species: wetlands, gullies, of the word, just that the word is “huillín”/willín, and lakes and flood meadows. In all cases it was men- its meaning: otter (Table2). tioned that the huillín lived there, sharing the area The testimonies of key people and the IDYCPA with the people who talk about it. Of the total experts indicate that the etymology of the word huil- number of zootoponyms found, 87.5% (n = 7) were lín (= willin, williñ, guillín) is wil´ i , which in the Chilean, and 12.5% (n = 1) were Argentine.

9 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20

Table 2. Descriptions of the “huillín” in dictionaries.

N° Bibliographicalreference Name found Referred to as. . . 1 Lenz, R. (1910) huillín . . . “an otter appreciated for its fur (Lu- tra huidobra), “guillin”. . . 2 Augusta, F.J.D. (1916) williñ “the otter (Lutra huidobra)” 3 Valenzuela, P. A. (1918). huillín “an otter of the country” 4 Erize, E. (1960). huillín “lagoon otter” Lutra provocax. Syn- onym: luü-lüu. 5 Sánchez, C. R. (1988) huillín “willín, the otter” 6 Hernández Sallés, A., Pizarro, N.R. y williñ “huillín, otter” Luna, C.C. (2002). 7 Díaz-Fernández, A. (2006) williñ huillín (Lutra huidobra) 8 Díaz-Fernández, A. (2009) huillín ”. . . the williñ (Lutra huidobra) another species of ‘otter’. 9 Malvestitti, M., Orden M.E.(2014) williñ “otter” 10 Villena Araya, B. (2017). williñ “otter” 11 Mouchard, A. (2019) Lontra provocax “huillín”

10 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20 González 1944 https://www.mindat.org/feature- 3878561.html Gonzalezhttps://www.mindat.org/feature- 3887524.html http://es.getamap.net/mapas Fonck 1944, 1896,Biedma 1964 Musters 2007, willin: otterwillin: otter, ko: water, wetlands Villagrán 1999 Villagrán 1999, Lenz 1910 Llag: half, willin: otterTrann: fall williñ:thrown otter out”) (“huillín Villagrán 1999, Ramírez 1995 Milla: gold huillín:of gold” otter “Otter Lebu: river huillín:river” otter “Otter Cala(s): a small coastalsmaller opening, than a bay huillín: otter Nahuel: “waterHuapi: tiger” island. (huillín), Record of zootoponyms associated with the huillín Constitución, in thegion Maule of Chile. Re- Chonchi, in Los LagosChile, Region on of Chiloé Island. , in theBío BíoofChile. Region Osorno, in LosChile. Lagos Region of Sector ofhectares approximately inAraucania 1000 Region Cholchol, of Chile. in the , in the Losof Ríos Chile. Region Malleco, ingion the of Araucania Chile. Re- San Juan de lagos costa, Region in of Los Chile. La- Nahuel Huapi National Park, Ar- gentina. Table 3. 13’36.86"W 47’25.15"W 56’20" W 18’35" W 45’16.07"W 30’54.24"W ° ° ° ° ° ° 15’18.73"S 14’10.04"W 40’15.67"S 53’28.56"W 8’6.75"S 14’28.15"W 33’56.68" 39’0.12" 38’35" 18’15" 23’15.77" 55’32.22" ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° 35 72 42 73 38 73 40 S73 38 S72 39 S72 38 S72 40 S73 40 S71 Zootoponym Georeference Location Meaning Bibliographicalreference Huillinco/Willinko Llahuillin Tranahuillin ° N 1 Locality Huillín 2 Lake and Locality 3 Section of wetlands 4 Zone Tranawillín/ 5 Wetlands Millahuillin 6 Wetlands Huillinlebu 7 Cove Caleta huillín 8 Lake Nahuel Huapi

11 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20

According to Villagrán and Videla (2018), the Ma- 6% (n = 2) are associated with the huillín: 1) Cur- puche people consider that each place is endowed with rihuillín - kurüwillín: kurü: dark colour, willín: river a spirit as an expression of power, represented by an otter, and 2) antüwillín: antü: sun, willín: river ot- animal that is revered. This is why zootoponyms as- ter. The first refers to the dark colour of this species sociated with the huillín show the strong bond that (their back is dark), and the second refers to the habit existed between this species and the Mapuche people, the huillín has, like other otters, of sunbathing on the and the places they lived in, in harmonious interac- rocks (Mason and MacDonald 2009). tion. The Argentine case is found in Lake Nahuel Huapi, CONCLUSION and it should be pointed out that there are several hy- potheses as to the meaning of the name of this lake, This work has brought together valuable infor- one of which may involve the river otter. Fonck (1896) mation on LEK, from the past and the present, re- reported that “Lagoon Nahuelhuapi has three small is- lating to the river otter. Huillín, the name for lands in it, and one larger one called Nahuelhuapi, Lontra provocax in the Mapuche language, has pre- from which the name has been taken for the lake it- vailed in the scientific literature as the common name self and for the mission, and all the land surrounding of the species, showing its importance in the biocul- it. This name means “isle of the tiger”, but its origin tural patrimony of Patagonia and its intimate rela- is not known. It could be deduced that the American tionship with the Mapuche people. tiger or jaguar ( onca) gave its name to the Analysis of its etymology reveals a top predator, island and surrounding lands, if it did reach these lat- feisty and territorial, with an aquatic lifestyle. Its itudes in distant times. character is also mentioned in other sources – by re- We do not have enough data on this fierce in- searchers who carried out ecological studies of the habitant of the jungles and intertropical fields, whose species, in several ethnohistorical texts written by in- homeland, as is generally assumed, does not currently dividuals who had direct contact with the otter, and pass from the latitude of Buenos Aires and is therefore by the man who put the word provocax in the ani- far from Nahuel Huapi and of the territory inhabited mal’s scientific name (Thomas 1908). Nevertheless, by the Araucana (Mapuche) nation” (Figure4a). Ac- the detail given by LEK about its name in the Ma- cording to Biedma (1967), in the Mapuche language puche language, which refers to the use of its claws, Nahuel means tiger and Huapi means island, penin- and the power this gives to the animal, shows the sula or forest clearing. As to its origin, he says “we completeness of the interpretation made by the Ma- can only guess, since there are no tigers in the zone”, puche people of an animal that plays a key role in referring to Panthera onca. Lenz (1895) drew atten- their aquatic ecosystems. tion to the widespread diffusion in the Araucanian With regard to the huillín as a zootoponym, most language of this word “nahuel”, meaning tiger; it fig- examples have been found in Chile. In both cases ures in toponyms and surnames even though it refers (Chilean and Argentine), reference is made to sites to an animal which was unknown in Chile and did not where people lived alongside the huillín, in the past reach as far south as Nahuel Huapi in Argentina. and in the present. In Argentina there is only one Musters (2007) thought that the animal living on case, that of Lake Nahuel Huapi, whose meaning “isle the island was not the jaguar (Panthera onca), but of the tiger” could refer to the huillín, this being the rather the “water tiger”, the huillín. Fonck (1896) sup- only zootoponym found so far that has lasted over ported this hypothesis, questioning why the “Arauca- time. Up to now, local inhabitants and authorities nians” (Mapuches) would name a place after a species have erroneously spoken of the name of the lake as that lived so far away. He thought it probable that referring to the jaguar (Panthera onca), and the pres- the huillín was abundant in Nahuel Huapi, a hypothe- ence of this species at these latitudes in the past. sis also mentioned by Biedma (1967). In this context, There are no records to show that its distribution in our work we follow the hypothesis of Musters and ever reached as far south as Lake Nahuel Huapi, but Fonck, since this river otter is present in Lake Nahuel it did reach the coastal area of Rio Negro and Chubut Huapi and it would make complete sense for its name provinces (Figure4a). The reinterpretation of this to refer to this species. zootoponym makes a lot of sense since lake Nahuel Huapi belongs to Nahuel Huapi National Park, whose The huillín as a patronym emblem features the huillín (Figure4b). This may mean that the ecological and emblematical impor- The river otter does not seem to be a com- tance of the huillín for the area was first recognised mon patronym among the Mapuche peoples (Villa- by the Mapuche people. grán 1999). According to this author, 33% of the The striking absence of zootoponyms in north patronyms cited refer to names of mammals, and only Patagonia could be due to the renaming process that

12 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20

a b

Figure 4. Local zootoponym and the huillín (Lontra provocax). a. Historical and current distribution of the jaguar (Panthera onca) adapted from https://felinosdeargentina.com.ar/los-felinos/gato-andino/yaguarete- mapa-distribucion b. The emblem of Nahuel Huapi National Park, featuring the huillín. took place after the military which has been reinterpreted here through analysis campaign, when local names were explicitly replaced of nomenclature, not only reveals a profound connec- with names of Jesuits who had been “heroes” of the tion between the species, the people and the aquatic campaign, or of people who had been involved in that environments, but also a possible time path of invis- process. The conquest of the desert was a strong mil- ibilisation of these bonds. The absence of more local itary offensive carried out by the Argentine State at toponymy, which has been systematically replaced by the end of the 19th century, which led to the genocide the State, has indirectly exacerbated the knowledge of a large part of the Mapuche population (Lenton vacuum that exists regarding this species. The re- et al. 2015; Delrío 2017). This is comparable with sults of this work enable us to learn more about the processes of similar characteristics that have occurred biocultural heritage of our region and reflect on the as- throughout the world with indigenous communities sociated historical and political processes. We believe (Day 2006). that this research protocol can serve ethnozoological Christopher Columbus, for example, did not hesi- studies in other parts of the world, with the aim of tate to give names inspired by religion, or his Spanish reverting the silencing of local ecological knowledge patrons, in order to ensure sovereignty (Day 2006). in indigenous communities. Francisco Pascasio Moreno, also known as Perito Moreno (1852-1919), was an Argentine scientist, nat- ACKNOWLEDGEMENT uralist, conservationist, politician, botanist, explorer and geographer. He considered that the places he vis- We would especially like to thank Lorenzo Loncon ited had no previous names, or that he could rename and Kalfu Rayen for their substantive contribution to them, since “. . . science had the right to choose names the manuscript. Also Dr. Marisa Malvestitti and Dr. to show its conquest of virgin lands” (Moreno 1897). Pablo Arias. From the Patagonia Museum a special This is shown by maps published from 1897 until to- thanks to Dr. Eduardo Bessera, Mr. Eduardo Perez, day, originally drawn up by him and then replicated, Marta Romero and Eduardo Morgenstein. Thank to up to the present time. Erik Müller for the final version of Figure3. The au- The ethnozoological aspects of this species have thors also acknowledge with gratitude the comments been little studied, which shows the importance of made by the anonymous reviewer on the earlier ver- investigating further, to register, for example, the sion of this paper. This investigation was supported knowledge of current inhabitants of the area. Never- by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas theless, the biocultural legacy of the Mapuche people, y Técnicas (CONICET) of Argentina (PIP 0723).

13 Pozzi and Ladio 2021. The southern river otter (Lontra provocax): insights from the perspective of Andean Patagonian ethnozoology Ethnobio Conserv 10:20

DATA AVAILABILITY Augusta FJD (1916) Diccionario araucano. Cerro Manquehue, , Chile. The literature used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author Berkes F, Colding C, Folke C (2000) Rediscovery upon reasonable request. of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological Applications 10:1251- 1262. CONFLICT OF INTEREST Biedma J (1967) Toponimia del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. Dirección General de Parques Na- The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. cionales, Buenos Aires.

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