‘We Are New People Now’ : Pentecostalism as a Means of Ethnic Continuity and Social Acceptance among the Wichí of Argentina

Sammanfattning: This thesis deals with ethnic and religious continuity among the Wichí Amerindian people of Argentina, after their conversion to Pentecostalism in the beginning of the 1980’s. The underlying assumption in the thesis is that no fundamental religious or ritual changes take place suddenly. The aim is to look at how Pentecostalism is articulated in local terms, and how important rituals are for the sense of continuity and well-being of the Wichí society. These questions are based on a theoretical discussion about religion and ritual, continuity and change. The fieldwork carried out among the Wichí is to a large extent based on participant observation of the Wichí Pentecostal service, the culto, and a mainly interpretative approach is taken to the topic. The results from the fieldwork demonstrate that a so-called merging has taken place between the traditional religion of the Wichí and Pentecostalism. The healing frequently carried out in the Wichí culto, for instance, is virtually shamanic healing in a Pentecostal setting. The symbolic communication of the ritual of the culto, such as dancing and healing,permits the Wichí and Western missionaries to participate together, but also to interpret the happenings from their respective cultural point of view.