The unpublished Aonik’enk (Tehuelches from Santa Cruz) ethnobotany of Raúl Martínez Crovetto: Plant names, botanical correspondences and nomenclatural analysis

Abstract

Background and aims: At the Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste (IBONE) valuable unpublished data of Raúl Martínez Crovetto (M.C.) –pionner of the ethnobotany research in Argentina- about the Aonik’enk ethnobotany registered during 1967 at the Santa Cruz province, were found. The objective of this first contribution is to analyze and to interpret the voluminous set of information that M.C. has surveyed about the Aonik’enk plant names, in order to contribute to the cultural heritage of this indigenous people, and to the understanding of its ethnobotany.

M&M: The methodology used is that corresponding to “historical ethnobotany”, which considers data from the past as a source of primary information on which the classical ethnobotanical method is applied.
Results: It is shown that M.C. register 105 Aonik’enk plant names used to name 165 botanical taxa (mostly -88.5 %- native plants) in a total of 236 correspondences among them. Semantic analysis of the vernacular nomenclature results in 45 primary lexemes; 10 secondary lexemes, and 28 metaphorical or descriptive names, besides of 22 refonologized loans (absolute and from translation) acquired from other languages.

Conclusions: It is worth highlighting the setting in value, the analysis and the ethnotaxonomic implications of the numerous information referred to, as well as its updating and the original data provided by the authors.