Indigenization and Enculturation
This article proposes to shed light on the modalities of evangelization of First Nations in Western Canada in the second half of the 20th century through material culture. Liturgical and devotional objects located inside three churches on First Nations reserves (in Alberta and British Columbia) will be described and analyzed within the perspective of traditional ethnography. By taking into consideration the First Nations meanings of certain objects transformed with the concern to adapting to the local culture, several misunderstandings and awkwardnesses emerge. Between hybrid forms and crossbreeding, the aesthetic markers of adaptation to First Nation cultures make possible a discussion around the concepts of enculturation and indigenization.