His father beckons him. Sisoi crawls carefully to the bow of the canoe. He follows his father’s index finger. It points to a place in the slightly waving water: ‘there’. Sisoi feels his knees shaking a bit, now he is …
Sisoi is visiting his grandmother. Not far from grandma’s hut are killer whales (orcas) swimming. Grandma gets up and walks on the beach for a while. “What does grandma do?” Sisoi asks his parents. Gaméla turns her head briskly. Shhh, …
They have collected new stones, found in the far west, called flints, to light the fire. Gaméla, Sisoi and their parents navigate in their canoe along several glaciers. The ice creaks and cracks terrifyingly. They see impressive icebergs. And suddenly… …
Just a few more hours and then there’s a big party! All morning Gaméla and Sisoi are walking around with smiling faces. Several families have gathered specially for the party in the bay of Saint Martin’s Cove, near Cape Horn. …
After several days of traveling, they see an abandoned hut on the coast. That’s the location they choose. The hut is situated between two huge piles of empty mussel shells. Father and Sisoi pull their canoe very close to it …
(Another story based on the Yahgan mythology about heaven and earth) Gaméla never gets tired of hearing some old stories. Others terrify her. She has only listened to the myth about the older Sun-man once. She will never forget it. …
(A story based on the Yahgan mythology about heaven and earth) Gaméla rubs the sleep from her eyes. She sees her little brother still lying near the fire. Her parents are already awake. “Where are we again?”, she asks herself, …
The canoe sails along a rocky island. Sisoi’s father inspects the steep cliffs. Suddenly he points upward: “Son look, there!” With his eagle-eyed sight he can see bird nests. He counts four, five, up to ten on that one cliff …
The sun sets behind the mountains and puts a golden glow on Beagle Channel. The wind has diminished. Five canoes are gliding through the calm water, not far off the coastline. There is a cozy, calm atmosphere on the water. …
Gaméla and her brother Sisoi both hold their hands on their jaws. Their mouths are tightly pressed to a thin line. “Mum, our teeth hurt a little bit.” Their mother reassures them. “You are completely healthy, only after a long …
The snow has melted. Spring will come soon. Sisoi follows his father who carries a stick in his hands. He seems to be looking for something. With his head bent down, he searches down along the shoreline. Sometimes he takes …
The sea is calm. Two canoes will go out to sea. Besides their parents, the neighbours will also be gone to search for food. Sisoi and Gaméla stay on the beach. Gaméla takes care of the neighbours’ baby. She loves …
(Also read story 10. Ghosts between the flames) In the distance, Gamela sees a glitter, it is a badly injured baby sea lion. He lies bleeding on an ice floe. Gaméla saw him in the flames. She returns to the …
The sunlight weakens. Slowly the day fades away. The evening is welcomed by Gaméla and Sisoi with some additional wood on the fire. As they put dry leaves between the tree trunks, the flames rise up high for a moment. …
Sisoi listens to his father who is talking with their temporary neighbour. The neighbour gives a helping hand with the repairs on the canoe. The neighbours had a long journey before they arrived, coming all the way from the other …
Today is a lazy day. Gaméla leans against her mother who is preparing food near the fire. When her mother bends down her necklace tinkles. Gaméla stares at the middle link: a red snail home between rosy coloured shells hanging …
(Continuation of part 6. The canoe in danger) The icy water still flows inward. Sisoi and Gaméla concentrate on removing the water from the canoe, as the fire may not be extinguished. Their father has finished fishing and now he …
You can handle a lot if you live in a place where it storms twenty-five times a year. You go ahead even though the wind blows strongly, because you never know whether you will find a fish for dinner. Or …
Far away at the horizon a killer whale leaps from the water. Sisoi has no idea why. His father tells him that he expects a fight soon. Killer whales behave like that before attacking a whale they wish to devour. …
Gaméla’s mum holds her breath and winds like a fish among the enormous marine algae which are growing in the crystal clear water. This giant kelp resembles a forest underwater. Gaméla swims side by side with her mother. At the …
For weeks now, his mother is dividing the available food into smaller and even smaller portions. His stomach tickles because he’s hungry. There’s almost nothing left, only six mussels and a small piece of cormorant to eat. There are also …
With his arm overboard, Sisoi stares into the distance. His fingers touch the water at each wave the canoe cuts through. To the rhythm of the waves he swings fully familiar back and forth, back and forth. Already as a …
Imagine: six thousand years ago. That’s a way back, isn’t it? Maybe six hundred times your age, or a hundred times that of your grandmother’s. At that time there were already people living in canoes among the numerous islands of …
The Infinite Stories have started! The first episodes talk about Gaméla and her brother Sisoi. They live in canoes on the waters of Tierra del Fuego together with their parents. The life of the family resembles that of the Yahgan, …