Native Christians

Aparecida VilaÃ
a is a specialist in the Ethnology of the South American Lowlands and, since 1996, is Professor in the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology of the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro. For 20 years she has conducted field research among the Wari' of the state of Rondÿnia (Brazil), having published two monographs about them (Comendo como gente. Formas do canibalismo wari'. Rio de Janeiro: Editora UFRJ/Anpocs, 1992 and Quem somos nós. Os Wari' encontram os brancos. Rio de Janeiro: Editora UFRJ, 2006) as well as various articles in scientific journals in Brazil and abroad. Since the year 2001, with the conversion en masse of the Wari' to fundamentalist Protestantism, she has devoted her studies to the theme of conversion of native peoples to Christianity, and is preparing a book on the Wari' case. Robin M. Wright is Associate Professor specializing in South American indigenous religions, Anthropology of Religion, and Indigenous Religions in general. For 20 years, Dr Wright was Professor of Anthropology at the State University of Campinas in Brazil where he was also Director of the Center for the Study of Indigenous Ethnology. His principal research since the 1970s has been in the Brazilian Northwest Amazon, although he has done work in Guatemala and the Northeastern US (Six Nations). He has published widely in the area of indigenous religions, indigenous histories and indigenist policies. Among his most important works are a two-volume study of indigenous peoples and Christianity in Brazil; two ethnographies of the histories and religions of the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Amazon; a collection of mythic narratives of the Baniwa Indians; and a co-edited volume on assault sorcery in Amazonia. He has published over sixty articles and chapters in books and, since 1980, has collaborated with non-governmental organizations in Brazil and the US working on behalf of indigenous rights.