The process of extinction of the selks’ has led to a controversy within the Salesian congregation around the causes of their disappearance. Through the reduction ‘Our Señora de la Candelaria’ carried out by Mrs. Fagnano in 1893, a plan for evangelisation and ‘civilisation’ of the selks was put in place. These abortions sought refuge in the face of persecution and murder perpetrated by fueguine ponds. Acechanzas, the contagion of diseases to which aborgenes were not immune, and the cultural impact caused by the reduction system, contributed to their extinction. The Salesian mysioners, who were at the heart of the reduction process, analysed the causes of the extinction, focusing primarily on the killings of the watertight vessels and the violence applied by the state authorities, while admitting those caused by cultural change. The next generation of Salesians, since studying the sources and constructing their own history, shifted the violent cause to physiological and cultural reasons, so as not to call into question the role played by the families of ponds Braun Menéndez and Menéndez Behety, who were partners with the Salesian work, in this dire process.