Tierra del Fuego. Jemmy Button, of the Yamana tribe, had been “purchased” here in exchange for a glass button, and for this reason he was called “Button.” He was brought to England, dressed and educated as an Englishman. We know this story because Charles Darwin told it to us. Jemmy Button was on the Beagle with Darwin, to be taken back to Tierra del Fuego and to act as an interpreter to civilize the others of his tribe. On January 24, 1833, Jemmy Button, wearing a starched shirt, gloves, gaiters, a cane, and patent leather shoes, looked with dismay at the naked, painted-faced Aborigines. They recognized him and approached him, asking questions. He answered first in English, and then, confused, in Spanish. Darwin and the others set sail again and left him there. They sailed up the Atlantic and then returned to pick him up a month later and continue on to round Cape Horn. When they meet him again, he is naked, emaciated, disheveled, his face painted: he has become a Yamana again. The English are heartbroken and ask him if he really wants to return with them. He says no, and introduces them to his girlfriend, dressed like a girl from Tierra del Fuego (i.e., naked). Rather than abandon her, he is willing to give up everything he knew in England. Far away from there. This is the story of Jemmy Button. A strange tale of travel, technology, fire and steam, different languages, misunderstandings, and one that proclaims love as an immense force, capable of overcoming immense differences.
