Challenges for a non-colonial indigenous education in the Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

The difference between the Indigenous Graduation in Educational Policies and Sustainable Development, at the Federal University of the Amazonas (Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Ufam), from other initiatives of indigenous higher education is the fact that it aims at not only the training of teachers to act in their communities, but, in the first place, based on the intercultural articulation of indigenous and non-indigenous knowledges, the promotion of discussions on contemporary historical and political issues affecting indigenous peoples within the national society and, in particular, on ethno-political strategies and action projects that, building on the collective needs of indigenous communities themselves, may contribute to the strengthening and stamina of their cultures. More than highlighting the results reached by this graduation programme, the purpose of this article is to reflect upon the difficulties and challenges, both internal to the Ufam itself as a formal institution of higher education and to the governmental policies in the field of Education, and external resulting from inherited educational practices historically imposed to the indigenous peoples in the region of Alto Rio Negro, Amazonas, which prevent the implementation of non-colonial indigenous education engaged with the life projects of the respective ethnic groups.