“One of the most fascinating topics in the study of conversion and commit- ment,” says Rambo (1993), “is the nature of people’s motivation for conver- sion. This is a concern for scholars of conversion as well as for those who are advocates” (137). People’s motivation reaches a peak of relevance during the initial commitment, and it may change as the converts acquire a new mystic language and reconstruct their personal life stories. Some anthropologists have studied the distinctive religious structures and shamanic practices that make it more difficult for members of egalitarian band societies to convert to a Christian creed (Yengoyan 1993). Other anthropologists—following the analysis of the Comaroffs (1991)—have studied the imposition of hegemonic political and economic powers over hunter-gatherer groups that experienced missionization (Blaser 1999; Gordillo 1999). Instead of discussing the struc- ture of the native religion or the broader sociopolitical context in which the people are immersed, this study is focused on the religious explanation given by former hunter-gatherers who have already converted to Christianity. The explanation that I analyze below is an after-the-fact validation provided by Western Toba adults converted to Anglicanism, initially preached to their par- ents by missionaries from Great Britain in the 1930s. 1 HUNTER-GATHERERS AND MISSIONARIES The distinctive encounter and eventual conversion of hunter-gatherer peo- ples by Christian missionaries around the world presents an interesting case of missionization. In the Americas, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Jesuits, 199 15 Converted Christians, Shamans, and the House of God: The Reasons for Conversion Given by the Western Toba of the Argentine Chaco Marcela Mendoza 03-177 Ch 15 5/9/03 6:42 AM Page 199