’Weenhayek Pentecostalism

In 1971 almost an entire aboriginal group in the Bolivian and Argentinian Gran Chaco, the ’Weenhayek, converted to Pentecostalism. The revival lasted for several years and resulted in many changes. This article explores the primary effects of the revival, but also the appropriation of the Pentecostal message, how the ’Weenhayek indigenized what the Nordic missionaries once had taught them. For the missionaries, dancing e.g. was something prohibited. Today it is one of the main expressions of ’Weenhayek Pentecostalism. This transformation is categorized as a form of revitalization movement as described by anthropologist Anthony F C Wallace. The article is based on many years of anthropological fieldwork among the ’Weenhayek.