This book raises the question of what an Indigenous church is and how its members define their ties of affiliation or separation. Establishing a pioneering dialogue between Amazonian and Gran Chaco studies on Indigenous Christianity, the contributions address historical processes, cosmological conceptions, ritual practices, leadership dynamics, and material formations involved in the creation and diversification of Indigenous churches. Instead of focusing on the study of missionary ideologies and praxis, the book explores Indigenous peoples' interpretations of Christianity and the institutional arrangements they make to create, expand, or dismantle their churches. In doing so, the volume offers a South American contribution to the theoretical project of the anthropology of Christianity, especially as it relates to the issue of denominationalism and inter-denominational relations.
Author(s): Élise Capredon, César Ceriani Cernadas, Minna Opas
Series: Contemporary Anthropology of Religion
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 258
City: Cham
Foreword: New Pluralities
References
Acknowledgments
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
Chapter 1: Introduction: Indigenous Churches—Christian Affiliations and Inter-denominational Relationships in Lowland South America
Indigenous Peoples and Christianity in the South American Lowlands
Ways Forward: Indigenous Churches in Comparative Perspective
Anthropology of Christianity, Indigenous Churches, and Inter-denominational Relations
Indigenous Churches
Inter-denominationalism and Denominational Boundaries
Historical Processes, Cosmological Confluences, and Sociocultural and Physical Environments
Indigenous Churches in Their Historical and Political Contexts
Shamanism and the Construction of Inter-denominational Boundaries
Negotiating Christianities: Materiality, Institutions, and Leadership
Indigenous Churches’ Modes of Organization: Alliances and Divisions
Conclusion
References
Chapter 2: Floating Charisma: Leaderships, Denominations, and Materialities in Argentine Chaco Indigenous Churches
“We were never Catholics”: The Evangelio as the Production of Group Charisma
The Game of Denominations: Unitary Utopias and Fragmentary Realities
“Having a Church”: Strategies and Materialities of Leadership
Floating and Sinking Charisms: Final Remarks
References
Chapter 3: “They Are Very Different from Us”: Institutional Form, Leadership, and Inter-denominational Relations in Amazonia
Introduction
The Yine, Christianity, and Inter-denominationalism
Denominations as Formal Entities: Tensions Related to Economics and Education
Catholic Church: A Provider of Resources?
Evangelical Church: Close to God
Pentecostal Church: Bewildering Formlessness
Denominational Leaders as Representatives of Their Institutions
(Non-)Indigeneity and the Formation of Authentic Christianity
Foreign Sources of Power
Discussion
References
Chapter 4: Christianity, Materiality, and the Critique of Modernity in the Colombian Amazon
Catholic Missionaries and Objects
Evangelical Christianity and Worldliness
Images, Objects, and the Critique of Modernity
Conclusions
References
Chapter 5: Indigenous Evangelicals, Adventists, and Catholics: Intersections of Christianity and Shamanism on the Brazil/French Guiana Amazonian Border
Introduction: Opening with a Question
The Lower Oiapoque River: A Polyglot Region, in More than One Sense
Christianities
The Adventist Patient and the Catholic Shaman
Body, Otherness, and the Potential for Transformation
Conclusion: Ending with Openness
References
Chapter 6: Danzas de alabanza (Praise Dances): Pentecostal Ritual or Shamanic Resurgence?
Introduction
Evangelical Denominations in the Indigenous Gran Chaco
Evangelism and Shamanism in the Qom Churches
The Soul as a Body Aptitude
Movimientos de Alabanza (Praise Movements): Forms the Ritual Takes
Final Remarks
References
Chapter 7: Off the Baptist Path: Christian Becoming in Indigenous Amazonia
Down the Baptist Path
Off the Baptist Path
A Path Through History
Santana’s Path
Along Paths of Differentiation
References
Chapter 8: Alliances and Divisions Within an Indigenous Evangelical Movement: The Case of Shipibo-Conibo Churches (Peruvian Amazonia)
Introduction
The Formation of Shipibo-Conibo Churches
Indigenous Church Associations: Toward a Pan-Amazonian Indigenous Evangelical Movement?
AIESHC: The Main Association of Shipibo-Conibo Churches
The FAIENAP: An Interethnic Evangelical Organization
Red TransAmazónica: A Transnational Network of Indigenous Evangelical Leaders
Factors of Fragmentation: Mobility, the Search for New Partners, and Condemning Greed
Mobility Is Not Conducive to the Consolidation of Alliances
The Search for Non-Native Partners
Greed as a Motive for Secession
Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: Ethnography of Uneasiness: Violence and Religion Among the Guarani of the Andean Foothills in the 1970s, Argentina
Introduction
The Cherenta Mission of the La Esperanza Sugar Mill
The Dismantling of the Cherenta Church (1960s and 1970s)
State Regulation and Process of Denominationalization: The Drifts of Cherenta’s Church
Conclusions
References
Afterword: Ethnography of the “Christian Paths” in Indigenous South American Lowlands: Between Institutions, Histories, and Materialities
References
Index
