Aldeia Maraká’nà Rexiste: um espaço intercultural na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Over the centuries, since the European invasion of the Americas in the 16th century, the indigenous peoples in Brazil have suffered, and still suffer, hegemonic processes of physical and symbolic violence that have been decisive in the attempts to erase their cultures and in the dissemination of prejudices and stigmas that persist in the social imaginary. In an attempt to deconstruct this colonising and Eurocentric project and also as a form of protest against the recurrent neglect with which indigenous cultural heritage is treated, a group consisting of 35 indigenous people from 17 ethnic groups occupied, in 2006, the area of the former Museum of the Indian. The name has been changed over the years and is currently called Aldeia Maraká'nà (Aldeia Maracanã) by those involved in the movement. In this urban village, situated in a strategic region of connection between the centre and the northern zone of the city, various intercultural activities are carried out which are open to the general public, especially non-indigenous people, who can have direct contact with different ethnic groups and their respective cultures. This dissertation proposes to understand the intercultural dimension and the educational potential of the Aldeia Maraká'nà from an ethnographic perspective. The methodology included bibliographic, journalistic and social network publications of the Aldeia Maraká'nà and, mainly, the realization of an intense fieldwork with participant observation in several activities carried out in the village between March 2021 and October 2022, talking, interacting and interviewing indigenous and non-indigenous people present in them, in order to identify their motivations and perceptions about the place. We conclude that the Aldeia Maraká'nà constitutes a significant space for non-formal education, being an Indigenous reference centre in the capital of Rio de Janeiro which, through numerous activities, allows society in general, including students from educational institutions, to live learning experiences about various elements of the cultures of indigenous peoples, contributing to the deconstruction of prejudices and stigmas commonly associated with them.