ABSTRACT
For the first half of the twentieth century Joseph Hugo Wenberg ministered among the Native Americans. He determinedly defended their rights and well-being. He began his ministry as a colporteur of the American Bible Society in Argentina and elsewhere in South America. Early on he was in Bolivia collaborating with the Methodists. He constantly insisted on “Indian work” and called out the racist nature of mission work that concentrated on the minority white population. Notably, while in charge of the Hacienda Guatajata [Huatajata] near Lake Titicaca, he instituted social justice reforms. He finally was dismissed as a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Returning to the United States, he assumed pastorates in Oklahoma, and then in Wisconsin where for 30 years he served among the Oneida. Wenberg’s life is an example of moral exemplarism, worthy of being emulated.
