Keppel Island

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Keppel Island has one of the most interesting histories of the Falkland Islands, as in the mid 1800s the South American Missionary Society established an outpost here aiming turn the Yaghan people of Tierra del Fuego into civilized Christians. Doubling as a sheep farm, it had been proposed by the founder as a means to remove the "savages" from their environment.

The Yaghan were "recruited" as potato farmers, and many of them died from tuberculosis. One of the more famous Yaghan residents became renamed Jemmy Button, who learnt English and visited England aboard the Beagle. The missionary continued for some 45 years before the few remaining recruits were returned to their native Patagonia, and little now remains of this indigenous tribe.

Keppel Island is now a memorial to the old regime as well as a nature reserve offering an excellent variety of birdlife.

Please note that it is not currently possible to visit Keppel Island. 
 

 

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