Piece of land that emerges from the strait of Magallanes, trapped between the continent and the rest of the fragments that were once bound together over the sea.
Dawson Island is a place of contradiction, a distant landscape, partly hidden, and at the same time, explorable. This landscape has been a protagonist of colonial history, where its cultural burden matches its inhospitable and distant geography.
It is here where Spanish colonisers forced Christian evangelization of Selk’nam and Yagan population (1890-1912), who were stripped away from their culture and identity by the uncontrolled forces of power and arrogance. Furthermore, diseases introduced by white men left thousands of natives buried in these gloom stage.
Georeading
A formidable and sustained tectonic force coming from the southwest originated and shaped the Magallanes Fold and Thrust Belt. The territory deformed, and just like wrinkles in the carpet, the wavy topography arose organised and predictable, perpendicular to the compressive force.
As such, the mountain ranges are disposed in parallel belts, form southeast to northwest, bounded by gentle valleys and covered by thick forests.
These long belts extend for dozens of kilometres, crossing the Brunswick Peninsula, briefly disappearing under the sea, and re-emerging in Dawson Island, causing the wavy topography that shapes the landscapes south of the island.
