Patagonia small research

While searching for traces of giants in the past, I came across the "giants of Patagonia." The legend is based on the fact that the famous traveler Magellan stopped for the winter in South America, in its southernmost part, and noted that the Indians living there were quite tall. .It was 1520, according to my data, the giants had already become smaller by that time since the disaster, however, in some parts of the planet, rich in fauna, the former tall people could have been preserved. More precisely, their tall descreasing was delayed for some time. This is interesting, but what was more interesting for me was understanding how the name Patagonia came about. There is a lot of speculation on the Internet about the name, these include “big-legged” and “giants with big legs” and so on. About 20 sources give the same idiotic information. This became a challenge for me and I decided to look into this issue.

 

So let's get started.

 

PATA GONIA

 

Pata means paw in Spanish. Not a leg, not a big leg, just a paw. The Indians wrapped their legs in animal skins and this is where the word may have come from. But “gonia” is a mystery. Many people simply refer to the fact that Magellan called them Patagonians and that’s where the name Patagonia came from. This is a very stupid conclusion and it does not show these people in "smart light". What kind of “gonia” is this? I searched for the root word "gon" through all the words in Spanish and found nothing. Then I decided to start thinking like Magellan. If I wanted to name a place, what would I base it on? Obviously, associations and native names. In the USA, for example, many names remain Indian. Mississippi River, Oklahoma and so on. So what could Magellan have used that was native? I looked at all the data on Patagonia and found the answer.

 

The names of the Indian tribes in Patagonia are "Yahgon" and "Ona". Perhaps Magellan simply combined these two names.

 

PATA - yaGON + ONa, in other words, the Indians Yagon and Ona are in animal “paws”. All together - PATAGONIA!