“Amansando o branco”: atividades educativas indígenas para o juruá

Abstract

This thesis aims to examine the educational activities promoted by Indigenous people in schools in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro during the early decades of the 21st century. Oral history was utilized as the main research method and as an approach focused on prioritizing Indigenous voices in their political agency. Interviews were conducted with eight Indigenous educators to understand their pedagogical intentions, how they engage with historical narratives in these activities, and for what purposes. Theoretical frameworks were based on decolonial thought and Indigenous intellectual perspectives to critically analyze the interviews. The research found that these activities align with a national Indigenous movement trend, where educating non-Indigenous people is used as a strategy for achieving rights. By participating in school activities, Indigenous people seek to present themselves as contemporary subjects, dismantle stereotypes, highlight the diversity of Indigenous cultures, and contribute their epistemologies toward solving global issues, such as climate change. They also aim to strengthen Indigenous student identities and support ethnic revitalization efforts to combat Indigenous ethnocide. Although mobilizing historical narratives is not the primary focus of these activities, it plays a significant role. This approach not only challenges the "official history"—a critique of canonical ways of narrating Brazil’s history—but also introduces a multiplicity of coexisting narratives. Through educational activities, Indigenous people construct new epistemological perspectives that challenge a single, linear, modern, and Western historical narrative, proposing alternative ways of thinking about and constructing histories.