Campos (Jul 2008)
Sincretismo e Resistência: o caso africano da igreja Oruuano
Abstract
In the beginnings of the 19th century, the Herero, a people living in subsaarian Africa, were confronted with European colonialism. On this clash their religious system based on ancestors’ worship was hardly threatened by German Luteranism, spread by missionaries and followers newly arrived at the territory, which were responsible for a long and complicated process of Christianization. The constant demonization of herero’s tradition and its imminent loss of power resulted in the genesis of some political and cultural focuses of resistance. From these emerged the Oruuano Church, the resistance objectification of the dominated minority. Based on fieldwork conducted in the village of Okondjatu, Namíbia, among herero people, this paper intends to discuss some general aspects of this resistance movement. Working with herero narratives, effort is made to understand sincretic characteristics of the Oruuano Church and some of its general aspects issued by its followers. It is suggested that the Oruuano Church might be understood as an identity and cultural resistance movement.
