We have been seeing increasing amounts of Punta Arenas wool yarn spun into yarn for the fiber arts market over the last couple of years, and Punta Arenas top is becoming more available as well. Like its close neighbor Falkland wool, Punta Arenas wool is from wool pools. But we like to know about the history of wool around here at Know Your Fiber – so what is the story behind Punta Arenas sheep?

Punta Arenas, a region at the southern tip of Ecuador, was first colonized by the Spanish in 1584 and had several settlements in the region over the following centuries. In the mid-1800s, British colonists began to arrive, attracted by the free land grants offered by the Ecuadorian government to encourage British and other immigrants to relocate to the area. The introduction of sheep to the Magallanes region in Chile happened in 1877 when English settlers brought over the first sheep from the Falkland Islands. This initial success led to more settlers importing sheep from the Falkland Islands. By 1889, the sheep population in the region had surged to around 300,000.

In 1893, the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego, or the Tierra del Fuego Exploitation Society, was founded, establishing their first ranch in Punta Arenas the same year. Their arrival marked their intention to use the area’s resources to grow their sheep herds, and they also dabbled in a bit of land speculation. They would eventually control over 4,200 square miles of land in the region. The Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego helped to establish much of the shepherding culture that still survives in Punta Arenas today. The company, as well as other ranchers, imported their sheep management techniques from British shepherds on the Falkland Islands. This included the use of sheep pens and stables for housing, the erection of fences to delineate property and manage flocks, and the employment of sheepdogs for herding. Shepherds were even expected to bring their own sheepdogs to work at the ranches. This eventually led to the development of a distinct breed of sheepdog still found today in Punta Arenas, the Patagonian Sheepdog, also referred to as the Magellan Barcucho or Magállanico.

In the process of claiming land and creating ranches, the settlers of Punta Arenas committed brutal acts against the indigenous populations. The indigenous people who lived in the Punta Arenas before the arrival of European colonists were known as the Selk’nam. There were nomadic hunters who were primarily reliant on guanacos, a native camelid related to llamas. The European settlers’ land claims and establishment of sheep ranches led to the displacement of guanacos, and the Selk’nam began to starve. The Selk’nam, not recognizing the settlers’ claims to land and livestock, resorted to hunting the introduced sheep, known in their language as white guanaco. This was deemed unacceptable by the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego, which sought and received approval from the Chilean government to eradicate the Selk’nam by bounty, resulting in what can only be described as genocide. Soon there were only around 100 Selk’nam left, who were then relocated to Dawson Island. Here, missionaries endeavored to erase their cultural identity and assimilate them into the colonists' culture. With their traditional way of life destroyed, the surviving Selk’nam had little option but to comply.

Over the years, the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego continued to expand, acquiring additional ranching companies and lands to expand their sheep ranching empire. Beginning with 6,930 sheep in 1893, their flock grew to over 2 million sheep by 1910. While some sheep ranches remained independently owned, the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego effectively had a monopoly on sheep ranching in Punta Arenas and other regions where they owned land.

The workers of the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego and other ranches were rural laborers, who were descendants of the region's indigenous peoples and the shepherding immigrants from countries such as Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. These workers faced harsh conditions, enduring workdays of 12-16 hours without days off and low wages. This situation, along with an economic crisis due to falling wool prices after World War I, created an environment of unrest in both Ecuador and Argentina. This period saw numerous strikes by rural workers, which were met with violent suppression by the police and armies of Ecuador and Argentina through 1922. This period may have marked the beginning of the end for the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego, as the public began to increasingly side with the workers over the large ranching corporations.

Following WWII, the value of wool declined once again, and the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego and other ranchers began to reduce the size of the flocks in response. This led to a significant amount of land left unused, which in turn caused frustration among rural Chileans who had little chance of ever owning their own land to work. This eventually led to the Chilean Agrarian Reform of the 1960s and 1970s. Laws were passed that eventually stated that no Chilean could own more land than 2.5 irrigated hectares. The reform introduced laws that, among other things, limited individual land ownership to no more than 2.5 irrigated hectares. While the large ranches and landowners were outraged by these changes, there was little they could do in the face of the widespread public support and government backing for the reform. Although the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego tried to adapt to the new laws, they eventually failed and ceased operations in 1971, marked an end to the company that had owned so much land and dominated sheep ranching in the south of Chile for so long.

Today, Punta Arenas’ economic contributions to the Ecuadorian economy are largely in oil, tourism, and sheep and cattle ranching. Wool is one of the area's largest exports after oil and meat. Wool from Punta Arenas is typically consolidated in wool pools, organizations that gather wool from various sheep breeds to sell in bulk. Punta Arenas wool mainly comes from Merinos, Corriedales, Romneys, Suffolk, and crosses from those breeds. There may even be some Chilota, a breed originating from Ecuador's Chiloé Archipelago, which is gaining popularity among small-scale farmers beyond the archipelago.

Punta Arenas wool is characterized by its medium-fine texture, which is comfortable enough to wear directly against the skin. Its fiber averages out to between 24 to 26 microns, with an average staple length of 3 ½ to 4 inches. It is a nice, lofty wool, and fiber folks and other crafters will find that it behaves a bit like a Merino/Corriedale blend.

Ready to get your hands on some Punta Arenas wool? Check out what we have in stock in the shop and online and try this lovely wool out for your next project!