Martin Gusinde

Martin Gusinde (1886–1969) was an Austrian priest, ethnologist, and educator whose pioneering work preserved the cultural heritage of South America’s indigenous peoples. Born in Moosach, Austria, he studied philosophy and theology from 1905 and was ordained in 1911. Drawn by a vocation both spiritual and scholarly, he accepted a teaching post at the University of Chile in Santiago, where he began immersing himself in the study of native cultures.

Between 1918 and 1924 Gusinde undertook multiple field expeditions into the forests and plains of southern Chile and Tierra del Fuego. Armed with a camera and deep respect for his subjects, he recorded the lives and rituals of the Selk’nam (Ona), Yámana (Yaghan), and other groups whose numbers were then in rapid decline. His 1923 photographs of the Selk’nam Hain initiation ceremony—capturing masked men in painted regalia—remain the only visual documentation of this vanished rite.

Gusinde published his findings and images in the multi‑volume Los Indios de Tierra del Fuego (1931–38), combining meticulous ethnographic description with striking black‑and‑white plates. His work not only preserved endangered traditions but also set new standards for respectful, immersive scholarship. After returning to Austria in the late 1930s, he continued teaching and ministering at the Church of St. Gabriel in Vienna.

Throughout his life, Gusinde balanced his priestly duties with a commitment to cultural preservation, leaving a photographic and written legacy that continues to inform our understanding of South America’s first peoples. His images—held in institutions such as the University of Chile’s Museo Etnográfico—stand as unique records of rituals, languages, and lifeways that might otherwise have been lost.