The Hain was an initiation ceremony for young Selk’nam men, marking their transition into adulthood, that evolved out of an earlier ceremony of the same name for young women. It involved elaborate rituals, dramatic impersonations of spirits by masked and painted men, and teachings about Selk’nam traditions and social structure. The initiates, called klóketen, would participate in a series of performances that altogether could last anywhere from multiple days to months, or even as long as a year.

The Hain of 1923 was extensively documented by Austrian initiate Martin Gusinde, and its his writings and images that provide the bulk of the present-day knowledge of the performance tradition, since much of its oral record was lost with the murders of the Selk’nam sages in a genocide carried out by European settlers and mercenaries from 1880-1930, which resulted in the deaths of 98% of the Selk’nam population. The last full performance of the Hain ocurred in 1936, though by then greatly diminished in scale from the much larger assemblies of the 19th century.

The last xo’on (priest) educated in the songs of the Hain, Lola Kiepja, died in 1966 shortly after the recording and translation of 42 such songs. Despite these serious setbacks, language and cultural revitalization projects are underway by the Selk’nam currently living in colonial Chile and Argentina, as they work to reclaim traditional intellectual and territorial property.