Cuando la música popular se hace evangélica: cumbia, sanación y etnicidad en el Chaco

Abstract

In recent years there has been a significant change in the musical consumption of the Wichi – an aboriginal group settled in the Province of Formosa, Argentina. A music band originally linked to the Anglican Church has emerged with a new formula that articulates clear religious postulates in the performance of popular music genres. The group is called Cristo Vive and the members are five Wichi and a Toba. This is the first time a band formed primarily of Wichi has reached an important level of popularity to the point of replacing the Creole and Toba musicians that have dominated the scene in the region for several years. Cristo Vive use synthesizers and amplifiers to play a musical genre they call "cumbia evangélica”. Close observation of their activities shows the beginning of a growing process of professionalism characterized by the production and sale of cassettes, regional tours and the practice of fandom. Based on this case, this article reflects on the relations between music, religion and ethnicity, the strategies for opening and closing ethnic boundaries in the practices of adoption, transformation and performance of alien musical genres and the emerging process of cultural regionalization.