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The Tehuelche of Argentina

The Tehuelche of Argentina, numbering approximately 30,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a nomadic hunting people of eastern Patagonia, also called Aonikenk, who adopted the Mapuche language and customs during the 16th-19th century Araucanization of the region before Argentina's 1870s Conquest of the Desert devastated their population. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Mapudungun is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Tehuelche

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Argentina
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Mapudungun (arn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 30,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG017370
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Pray for the Tehuelche of Argentina

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mapudungun
Language Family: Araucanian

100%
%
Mapudungun Speakers

Media Resources in Mapudungun:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mapudungun:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Chilean Bible Society✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mapudungun bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tehuelche are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Tehuelche:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Tehuelche of Argentina

And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."
readMark 14:23-24

Pray for those who may have heard the gospel but have not yet submitted their lives to Christ, that they will finally see the sacrifice which He made for them and surrender their lives to Him.

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
readMatthew 16:16

Pray that many will see clearly that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and put their trust in Him.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:46-47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be devoted to the teaching of God's Word, to fellowship with one another, and to prayer.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Tehuelche Across Countries (ROP3 - 109920) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TehuelchePG017370TehuelcheArgentina30,000Engaged yet UnreachedMapudungunEthnoreligion

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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