REDE AYA – ESTUDOS INDÍGENAS (AYA NETWORK – INDIGENOUS STUDIES) is a group focused on the development of joint actions and research and extension projects relating to indigenous populations of past and present. The group’s actions are based on the perspectives of decolonial studies, seeking not only to recognize and problematize the persistence of Eurocentric perspectives linked to coloniality, but also to understand the need for approaches and epistemologies committed to the indigenous perspectives of Abya Yala.
In this sense, it is worth considering that REDE AYA – ESTUDOS INDÍGENAS (AYA NETWORK – INDIGENOUS STUDIES) is a proposal initiated on the academic scene in dialogue with institutions and sectors linked to social movements and spheres of political action, recognizing that the academic and political domains are inseparable and expressing the commitment of scholars to original populations in constructing knowledge and, at same time, empowering contemporary indigenous struggles.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the AYA – INDIGENOUS STUDIES NETWORK is to promote joint actions between researchers in indigenous history(ies) and culture(s) through the development of research and extension projects based on approaches and themes common to the network;
The aim is also to hold meetings, congresses and exchanges for professor, researchers and students to exchange reflections on indigenous studies, as well as to stimulate them in political and academic circles at regional, national and international levels;
More specifically, it aims to reflect on the forms of language used by indigenous people to tell their own histories. In this sense, we analyze historical interpretations in audiovisuals, literature and contemporary indigenous art. Reflecting, for example, on how territoriality, spirituality and education are articulated with their historical discourse and their contemporary struggles.
Finally, we objective seek to enable build possibilities for the use of indigenous productions in indigenous school education and basic education, with the aim of collaborating with the real implementation of Brazilian law 11.645/08.
BACKGROUND
Observation of social relations in Brazil reveals the existence of racist attitudes on the part of the non-indigenous population towards the indigenous population. Original populations are underestimated, which unables their presence and importance in past and current societies. School curricula with an Eurocentric tradition, which sometimes exclude reflections on the History of Indians in Brazil, make it even more difficult to understand the roles of indigenous subjects in the formation of Brazilian society. The sanctioning by the federal government of Law 11.645/08, therefore, represents the breaking of the official silence on the issue. The stereotyped form or absence of indigenous themes in educational materials and activities must be combated, and actions are needed to enable teaching and historical inclusion. It is necessary to plan actions to implement the law, transforming curricula based on historical knowledge. Taking ownership of content relating to indigenous issues is therefore important, but more than this, the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in teaching is fundamental to the practice of teaching history.
In this sense, the actions of REDE AYA – ESTUDOS INDÍGENAS (AYA NETWORK – INDIGENOUS STUDIES) aim to make indigenous historical conceptions and their way of telling them visible, beyond writing. The sharing of audiovisual stories, for example, aims to reflect on the complex and plural versions of indigenous cultures, formulated from their own perspectives. We believe that this is an important way of enable the diversity practiced, towards what we could call a “narrative balance”, where these populations no longer occupy predetermined spaces in narratives about the past, but become active subjects not only of history, but of their ways of making it and telling about it. In addition, audiovisual language incorporates dimensions of culture that are often excluded from academic texts, such as gesture and corporeality. In our view, the implementation of Law 11.645/08 depends on an understanding of indigenous histories and cultures based on indigenous productions.
The study of indigenous history is therefore of the utmost importance for reflecting on the history of Brazil and for combating current discriminatory actions against indigenous populations. The implementation of Law 11.645/08 does not only mean including content on indigenous issues in the curriculum, but also reformulating content and didactic-pedagogical practices. This means that it is necessary to rethink the role and responsibility of the school in the social and individual transformation of the student and, therefore, as a fundamental vehicle for instigating changes in the ways of thinking and acting of both individuals and institutions. This cannot be done without historical knowledge, including that produced by subjects who have been made invisible throughout history, in this case, indigenous people.
CONFIRMED RESEARCHERS AND INSTITUTIONS
Prof. Dr. Luisa Tombini Wittmann (Santa Catarina State University)
Cacau Moraes (Undergraduate student – History Department / Santa Catarina State University)
João Gabriel Santos Pinto (Undergraduate student – History Department / Santa Catarina State University)
AYA LABORATÓRIO 