Tehuelche (Aoniken, Inaquen, Gunua-Kena, Gununa-Kena) was one of the Chonan languages of Patagonia.

Its speakers were nomadic hunters who occupied territory in present-day Chile, north of Tierra del Fuego and south of the Mapuche people.

The decline of the language started with the Mapuche invasion in the north, that was then followed by the occupation of Patagonia by the Argentine and Chilean states and state-facilitated genocide.

[2] During the 19th and 20th centuries, Spanish became the dominant language as Argentina and Chile gained independence, and Spanish-speaking settlers took possession of Patagonia.

[4][5] Tehuelche belongs to the Chonan family together with Teushen, Selk'nam (Ona) and Haush.