How native-americans communicated through long distances

Language  of smoke signals

 D.Antón

 In America, many forms of communication were developed over long distances, many of which went unnoticed or were underestimated by Europeans. One of the main forms of long-distance communication were smoke signals. Peoples all over the continent developed a language based on fire and smoke that allowed them to communicate over great distances. The existence of this system was not lost on many chroniclers, which although never understood the meaning of this translinguistic language, they knew it was a very valuable tool in the hands of the nations of North America.

The existence of such a system was also identified in South America. An example of this occurred when ships arrived at Rio de la Plata, in the Spanish expedition of Sebastian Gaboto that was in Paraguay, more than a thousand kilometers away, they learned their arrival in a few days (ref.Anibal Barrios Pintos). Other exampleS were the large quantities of smoke signals (messages) that were perceived in South America, particularly in the Tierra del Fuego, by the first explorers, from which it derives its name.

Over time, this system was caricatured in films about "Indians" and cartoons. However, beyond cartoons and frivoliries, smoke communication was one of the most effective systems of intercultural communication that existed in native American human societies.

From: Amerrique, the Orphans of Paradise, Danilo Anton, Piriguazu Ediciones