IS GOO AN AMERICAN? An Anthropological Perspective on the Missionary Work of the Summer Institute of Linguistics Edited by S11ren Hvalkof and Peter Aaby IWGINSI IS GOD AN AMERICAN? This is a joint publication by the following two organizations: INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS (IWGIA) Fiolstrrede I 0, DK- 1171 Copenhagen K, Denmark. SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NG, England. Copyright 1981 by S~ren Hvalkof, Peter Aaby, IWGIA and Survival International. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be. reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means without permission of the editors. ISSN 0105-4503 ISBN 87-980717-2-6 First published 1981 by IWGIA and Survival International. Printed in Denmark by Vinderup Bogtrykkeri A/S. Front cover by H. C. Poulsen. IS GOD AN AMERICAN? An Anthropological Perspective on the Missionary Work ofthe Summer Institute ofLinguistics EDITED BY &tren Hvalkof and Peter Aaby INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS Objectives IWGIA is a politically independent, international organization concerned with the oppression of indigenous peoples in many countries. IWGIA's objective is to secture the future of the indigenous peoples in concurrence with their own efforts and desires: 1. By examining their situation, and publishing information about it. 2. By furthering international understanding, knowledge and involvement in the indigenous peoples' situation. 3. By fighting racism and securing political, economic and social right, as well as establishing the indigenous peoples' right to self-determination. 4. By arranging humanitarian projects and other forms of support of in­ digenous peoples and ethnic groups with a view of strengthening their social, cultural and political situation. Activities By organizing the research and the collection of information, IWGIA en­ deavours to draw attention to the situation of the indigenous peoples throughout the world. Through the communications of the indigenous peo­ ples themselves and through reports from investigators who have lived in the relevant territories, IWGIA tries to inform and exert influence on governments, international organization and on public opinion. IWGIA's DOCUMENTS are an English written series published about 5 times per year. Each DOCUMENT deals with a subject related to the in­ digenous peoples' situation. A NEWSLETTER is also published. This contains articles, notices and reviews of books about the situation around the world. IWGIA also seeks to support the fight of indigenous peoples for decent liv­ ing conditions by granting financial aid to humanitarian projects and other activities and additionally by supporting in practical and financial terms the preparation of congresses undertaken by the indigenous peoples' own organizations. SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL is a non-political, non-denominational organisation existing to help aboriginal peoples to protect their rights. This is a problem of extreme urgency, for many societies face the prospect of irreparable destruction. Procedure must vary with local circumstances, but there are two essential priorities. The first is to secure the rights of aboriginals to the land on which they live. The second is to provide knowledge and understanding of the outside world, so that they can take effective action themselves. The danger to aboriginal populations has reached global proportions, SUR­ VIVAL INTERNATIONAL's immediate aims are: to carry out specific programmes with threatened groups; to extend international responsibility and action; and to publicise the problems and aspirations of all aboriginal people. The work has been increasingly based on the principle of establishing close co-operation with other bodies so that we present a unified and coherent front in all that is done. SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL supports a series of field Projects mainly in South America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia,· Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela), but also in Indonesia and Australia. There is also a quarterly REVIEW (annual subscription £8/$16) which carries in-depth articles on the subject; world news; book reviews and reports on films being planned or made. The S. I. Document Series carries material which is too long and detailed to be included in the REVIEW, such as our Projects Director's Report on Colombia and his forthcoming one on Peru. Joint publications demonstrate the above-mentioned principle of cooperation, and S. I. has already had the pleasure of one such previous joint publication with IWGIA (The Yanoama in Brazil 1979). Another publication is published jointly with the Royal Anthropological Institute, written by S. L's International Law Adviser, Gordon Bennett (Aboriginal Rights in International Law). SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL has a number of supporting groups throughout the world in America, Eire, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg and Spain. Acknowledgements This study would never have been completed were it not for the numerous encouragements and support received from individuals and organizations concerned with the plight of indigenous groups. Without the help of IWGIA, Survival International and the Anthropology Resource Center in locating potential authors, a book of this kind would not have been possi­ ble. The contributing authors as well as many other colleagues and friends have offered valuable comments on earlier versions of our introduction and conclusion. Special thanks are due to David Stoll, who undertook the lab­ orious task of compiling the index, and to Fiona Wilson, Stephen Sampson and John Bodley who helped with the translation and offered challenging comments. Publication of the book was made possible administratively through the support of the staff of IWGIA and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, University of Copenhagen, and it was financed by grants from Survival International and from the Danish Social Science Research Council and IWGIA. The authors have decided that royalties on the book should go to IWGIA and Survival International. Copenhagen, January 1981 S¢ren Hvalkof Peter Aaby Contents 9 Sjllren Hvalkof and Peter Aaby Introducing God in the Del'il's Paradise 17 Appendix Summary of Summer Institute/Wycliffe Operations, Advances and Reverses 23 David Stoll Words Can Be Used In So Many Ways 41 Scott S. Robinson Fulfdling the M~ioa: North American El'angelism in Ecua~or 51 William T. Vickers The Jesuits and the SIL: External Policies for Ecuador's Tucanoans through Three Centuries 63 David Stoll Higher Power: Wycliffe's Colombian Adl'ance 77 Bernard Arcand God is an American 85 Robert A. Hahn Mmionaries and Frontiersmen as Agents of Social Change among the Rikbakca I 09 Luis A. Pereira F. Go Forth to El'ery Part of the World and Make All Nations My Disciple. The BolMan Instance 121 Richard Chase Smith The Summer Institute of Linguistics: Ethnocide Disguised as a Blessing 133 Thomas R. Moore SIL and a "New-Found Tribe": Tbe Amarakaeri Experience 145 Andre-Marcel d'Ans Encounter in Peru 163 Jan Rus and Robert Wasserstrom El'angelization and Political Control: the SIL in Mexico 173 Sj1lren Hvalkof and Peter Aaby "No Tobacco, No Hallelujah" 188 Index 8 Introducing God in the Devil's Paradise by S0REN HVALKOF and PETER AABY »Don't believe the Eden stories some anthropologists are trying to push. The jungle Indians are not living in paradise« (SIL missionary in Hefley and Hefley 1972:60). »Satan has had a free hand among the Macunasfor hundreds of years. He is not the least bit pleased that we have come. Already we have had much opposition. Pray that we will not easily become discouraged and that we will show forth the Love of Christ to those Satan would use to disrupt the work. 'Prayer Changes Things'« (field-letter from SIL missionaries to supporters, SIL Doc. I). This book is a collection of anthropological essays about Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT)/Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), currently the world's largest Protestant missionary society in terms of members sent abroad (Dayton 1976:52). In contrast to other missionary societies, WBT/SIL considers its prime task to be that of translating the Bible into all the languages of the world. WBT is that branch of the organization responsible for raising funds in the US, while SIL carries out the actual mission work; this book focuses principally on SIL. The vast majority of the world's unwritten languages are spoken by ethnic groups without long histories of integration into statelevel societies. WBT/SIL's. expansion has thus meant that most of its work takes place among such tribal groups, though it works also with peasant populations. The goal of this book is to analyse some of the social and cultural implications of WBT/SIL's attempt to bring the Word to these tribal groups, or the »Bibleless tribes« as they are called by the organization (Townsend 1963:8). Since tribal and peasant populations have been the study objects of anthropologists, and since many anthropologists and linguists had carried out fieldwork in the same areas as SIL missionaries, it seemed natural to ask some of them to describe and analyze the consequences ofSIL's work. * While WBT/SIL's institutional and ideological development is well described by Stoll in his article »Words Can Be Used in So Many Ways«, it is still necessary to give a general overview of the WBT/SIL organization, its expansion, its ideology, and its methods of operation. The founder of WBT/SIL was William Cameron Townsend, or »Uncle Cam«. In 1917, Townsend joined the Central American Mis­ sion, working among the Cackchiquel Indians of Guatemala. He soon realized, however, that the Cack­ chiquel could not understand Spanish and thus had no interest in the Bibles he was trying to sell. Consequently, Townsend took it upon himself to translate the Bible into Cackchiquel, a task which took him 14 years. During this interval Townsend received a vision where he would bring the Word to all of the » Bibleless« tribes: St1ren Hvalkof. born 1951, is a graduate student at the University of Copenhagen, and did preliminary fieldwork in the Amazon in 1975.