Nevenkas – The Croatian name of this flower which grows in Magallanes (Chile) and Croatia
First Croatians in Punta Arenas
In the late 18th and early 19th century, the first Croatian immigrants reached the Magallanes region from the former republic of Yugoslavia, under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Mainly from the region of Dalmatia (island of Brac, Hvar, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Zagreb and others) they left their homes with a lot of sacrifice, leaving behind their families and their beloved land, which it was hit by drought during those years. In search of a new future, they began a journey of almost 1 month by sea, on a ship to America. After arriving in Buenos Aires, some of them decided to stay and others moved to Bolivia, Peru and Chile.
The Croatians, who chose Chile, travelled to two destinations: Antofagasta to work in the nitrate mines and Punta Arenas, in search of gold found on the island of Tierra del Fuego, in the Cordon Baquedano.
When they arrived to the city of Punta Arenas, they found a completely different land. Here they had to fight in order to move forward, the climate was hostile but the land fertile. Before they left Croatia, they promised their families members who couldn’t join them to send money as soon as possible so they could reunite in Chile. Initially all of them wanted to return. However, this land gave them everything their beloved Croatia hadn’t, children, home and work. Very few returned to Croatia.
My great grandfather, Toma Matijaca, left Croatia in 1904, with his brothers Ivan and Franjo. He left behind his home in Supetar on the island of Brac and their parents Simin and Franja and his brother Marin. His first destination was the city of Buenos Aires. From there he traveled to the south until he reached the town of Porvenir, on the island of Tierra del Fuego, where he focused on the search for gold. After years of sacrifice, he became a merchant. Arriving in Punta Arenas, he worked building stone streets in the city. He never returned to his homeland. Here, he got married and had five children and after he lost his wife, never remarried. After settling permanently in the capital of Chilean Patagonia and finding economical security, he helped his nephews from Croatia. He paid their tickets and helped them to find work in these remote southern lands. He past away in 1954. My aunt, Irene Matiacha, who met him when she was 11 years old, told me that she used to feed him with his favourite fruit “grapes” in his last years and that he was very good man.
In my first photography book I portrayed elderly people who knew him when they were children. They told me that he had a cart in which he travelled in order to get wood and strawberries from the countryside, he used to drink Rakia (typical grappa from the Dalmatian area) with his friends. He was a serious person with a noble heart.
I dedicated my work to him with great love and admiration. He is my closest relative who left his country without knowing where he would eventually settle down, driven by the hope of finding a better place and succeeding by hard work and integrity.
Primeros Croatas en Punta Arenas (en español)
Links:
Croatians in Punta Arenas
Otisci i tragovi Hrvata u Punta Arenasu (in Croatian)
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Thanks (Hvala) for your article. My grandparents were from Hvar but instead of South America they settled in Chicago. I often wonder how different of an experience it was for the Croatians who settled in South America from those emigrating to North America.
I read your article with interest. My Dad, Nikola Milicevic came to the states in 1909 from the Dubrovnic area. He had a cousin and an uncle, Luka and Guiro who went on to South America. They were all 19 years old at the time. My Dad had no further contact with them. They would have been my only relatives. My Dad passed away in 1962 in South Dakota where he settled. Have you ever encountered any Milicevic or Milich families?
Miličević may be also from Herzegovina (Ljubušku)
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