Much of what is known about the history of the Wichí comes from accounts by
Jesuit and
Franciscan missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first mission was established in 1690 but was unsuccessful. In 1771, the Franciscan Mission of Zenta received a more favorable reception; however, with the decline of Spanish power, these missions eventually fell into decay. The Anglican Church has been closely involved with the Wichí since the early 20th century. There are currently over 140 churches in the region, which are attended almost exclusively by indigenous families. Many priests of the Anglican Church in northern Argentina are from indigenous communities, and three bishops of the Anglican Diocese of Northern Argentina have been indigenous, including members of the Wichí (see Diocese of Northern Argentina; Anglican Indigenous Network). The Wichí territory has shifted since the 18th century, when the first precise records of their existence and location were documented. In the Pilcomayo River area, their neighbors were the
Toba, and their lands along the Bermejo River extended from the present-day town of
Embarcación to an area north of the current town of Castelli, in Chaco Province. The Anglican Diocese of Northern Argentina has advocated for Wichí land rights for over a century, mediating between the provincial governments of Formosa and Salta in efforts to secure indigenous land claims. For more than fifty years, the Anglican Church privately purchased land to allow indigenous communities to live there, as the national government had long refused to acknowledge Wichí land or human rights. In February 2020, the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled against the Argentine government in a landmark case, ordering reparations, restitution of land, and the restoration of fishing rights to indigenous communities. ASOCIANA, an ecological charity affiliated with the Anglican Church, has played a significant role in this process and in documenting ecological crimes committed by private corporations and government groups. According to Father Alejandro Corrado, a Franciscan missionary in Tarija, the Wichí were traditionally
nomadic, living in light structures scattered throughout the forest. Corrado wrote that their diet relied primarily on fish and
algarroba (the fruit of the
algarrobo tree, commonly identified with
Prosopis alba or South American
mesquite), as well as
honey-locust. He described them as eating "anything that was not
poisonous, even
rats and
grasshoppers." From
algarroba, they reportedly prepared an intoxicating beverage, likely
aloja, made by
fermenting the sugary paste (
patay) found inside the fruit. The ripening of
algarroba was marked by a ceremonial celebration. Corrado also noted that among the Wichí, "everything is in common." There was a clear division of labor: men primarily engaged in
fishing and occasional
hunting with bows or clubs, while women carried out most other tasks. Regarding
spiritual beliefs, Corrado reported that Wichí shamans, or
medicine men, fought
disease "with singing and rattles," and that the Wichí believed in both a good spirit and an evil spirit, with the
souls of the deceased
reincarnating in animals. There is also evidence of the use of the
entheogen Anadenanthera colubrina by Wichí shamans in Argentina. The
Pentecostal Church of
Sweden began working among the Wichí community in the early 20th century, leading to a
Christian majority among the Weenhayek population. The absence of concepts of individual possession and ownership within the community facilitated this conversion; everything was traditionally held in common, aligning with descriptions of the early Christian church. Other factors helped contextualize the
gospel, such as the Weenhayek's identity as fishermen on the
Pilcomayo River, similar to several disciples in the
Bible. These cultural connections have allowed the Weenhayek to maintain their unique identity and traditions despite adopting Christianity. ==Current threats==