Direito à educação escolar indígena bilíngue: preservação da identidade cultural

Abstract

This study investigated the right to bilingual and differentiated indigenous school education from the perspective of interculturality, with the theoretical framework of the indigenous educator Gersem José dos Santos Luciano, who is from the Baniwa ethnicity. The aim was to understand how this education contributes to the rescue of indigenous languages, which are becoming extinct in Brazil, and to the strengthening of the cultural identity of these peoples. The study was based on bibliographic sources, with an emphasis on critical human rights theories, as well as data collected by official institutions responsible for monitoring indigenous peoples in Brazil, particularly concerning education. In order to observe the reality of schools in the practice of the Terena people in Sidrolândia, Mato Grosso do Sul, in-person interviews were conducted to verify such data in the schools of the Tereré and Córrego do Meio villages. Although there are various legal provisions, both national and international, regarding the guarantee of bilingual indigenous school education, the results indicated that it is not effectively implemented as envisaged in the legal framework, nor does it respect the guarantee of differentiated and appropriate education in a way that contributes to the rescue and maintenance of indigenous languages. The research was supplemented with some images taken during the interviews conducted in September 2023.