GENETIC COMPOSITION OF THE LAST YAMANA INDIANS FROM SOUTH-AMERICA

The genetic composition of a Yamana Indian group that still survives i n Navarino Island, Port Williams, southern Chile, is described here. N on-Indian admixture was estimated to be 12.9%. The Yamana are genetica lly different from the Pehuenche Indians, especially for the HLA syste m and the EsD locus. It is suggested that the Yamana have a more or le ss direct Paleoindian origin. This hypothesis is supported by previous archeological and bio-anthropological evidence. The presence of genes from other Indian groups of Chile and Argentina in the gene pool of t he Yamana, cannot be excluded on the basis of the present data.