Yahgan people in the context of Selkʼnam people

Indigenous peoples in Chile or Native Chileans (Spanish: Chilenos nativos), are Chileans who have predominant or total Amerindian or Rapa Nui ancestry. According to the 2017 census, almost 2,185,792 people declare having Indigenous origins. Most Chileans are of partially Indigenous descent; however, Indigenous identification and its legal ramifications are typically reserved to those who self-identify with and are accepted within one or more Indigenous groups.

The Mapuche, with their traditional lands in south-central Chile, account for approximately 80% of the total Indigenous population. There are also small populations of Aymara, Quechua, Atacameño, Qulla (Kolla), Diaguita, Yahgan (Yámana), Rapa Nui and Kawésqar (Alacalufe) people in other parts of the country, as well as many other groups such as Caucahue, Chango, Picunche, Chono, Tehuelche, Cunco and Selkʼnam.

Yahgan or Yagán (also spelled Yaghan, Jagan, Iakan, and also known as Yámana, Háusi Kúta, or Yágankuta) is an extinct language that is one of the indigenous languages of Tierra del Fuego, spoken by the Yahgan people. It is regarded as a language isolate, although some linguists have attempted to relate it to Kawésqar and Chono.

Yahgan was also spoken briefly on Keppel Island in the Falkland Islands at a missionary settlement. In 2017, Chile's National Corporation of Indigenous Development convened a workshop to plan an educational curriculum in the Yahgan language, and in June 2019 it planned to inaugurate a language nest in the community of Bahía Mejillones, near Puerto Williams. The government also funded the publication of a "concise and illustrated dictionary" of the Yahgan language.