Tierra Del Fuego (Land of Fire) is the name given to the area after Portuguese navigator Fernao Magalhaes (Magellan) in 1520 saw fires lit on the shore. For centuries before and after his discovery, the place was the home of Yamana Indians. Both missionaries and the discovery of gold forced the natives out of their land. The natives were also ravaged by epidemics of European diseases and only a very small number remain. The area feels like the bottom of the world, desolated, rugged, and windy.