Zebedeo Torres, a pastor in the Wichí village of Santa
Maria [photo: Jo Hill, copyright 2006 WR411/9 ARG07DJ-260]
‘We have someone teaching us constantly’
SANTA MARIA, SALTA PROVINCE, NORTHERN ARGENTINA— Zebedeo Torres, 76, has been a church pastor in Santa Maria for 36 years. He first read the Bible when he was 16, in 1946.
“At that time,” he says, “we didn’t have school – we [Wichí] weren’t allowed into school and anyway they only taught in Spanish. I learned everything from a missionary; we learned to read and write through the church. “I was very happy to be able to read God’s Word. At that time the Gospels had been translated into Wichí and that’s why people kept coming to church. Back then, in the 1940s, 140 people came to church – sometimes 200. Now it’s very variable. We have a service every night and sometimes in the day too. We have anything between 20 and 70 people.
Can’t resist
“Many people have faith,” he says, “but then problems come, they can’t resist and they fall away. The children face many more problems today, too. They tend to fight at school. And then their parents become enemies… Another thing is the TV. The children look at it all day and night. Children don’t have any peace.” Although younger, Velarde Torres, who is a church deacon, agrees with him about the problems the Wichí face with their children. As so often among the Wichí, when social problems are under discussion, the Criollos come up. (Criollo — the name is related to the French ‘Créole’ — originally referred to white people born in Spanish America of Spanish parents, as distinct both from those born in Spain and from indigenous groups such as the Wichí, with whom the Criollo have traditionally been in conflict.)
Copying television
“I see at the school that they are teaching the things of the Criollos,” says Velarde. “And so the children start to learn things that aren’t good. They see people kicking someone on television and they start copying it. My own children want to wander around until 1.00am and then they’re tired in the daytime. They are copying the Criollos’ lifestyle.” Although the enmity between Wichí and Criollos is not as fierce or physical as it once was, in Zebedeo’s mind they still have their differences, the root cause being that the Criollos are not Christian believers. “I’m someone who believes in God’s love and seeks to learn,” he says. “And I don’t blame the children for anything. But I do see that what is happening to them is causing them severe trouble. “The Criollos don’t have anyone to teach them God’s Word. We have someone teaching us constantly. But that’s not happening for the Criollos.”
Problems arise
Although the picture he paints may be exaggerated – Chris Wallis says that the Criollos do in fact have missionaries in Santa Victoria – his view seems to colour the way most Wichí see the Criollos who live around them. “It’s not that we’re against them,” he adds, slightly disingenuously. “We don’t make them our enemies. We can have the Criollos amongst us. Some problems arise when the young people get together at night. They get drunk and that’s when they start to do bad things.” Through all the problems that he knows his people face, though, he continues to put his trust in God, just as he has for the past 60 years or more. “We’re thankful for the support of the Bible Society,” he tells me, “and we want them to continue with God’s Word and the other books in Wichí that we’re receiving. We want them to continue supporting us.”
(WR 411/9 - 05.07) [6 photos]