HISTÓRIA E CULTURAS INDÍGENAS NA EDUCAÇÃO ESCOLAR: DESAFIOS PARA A VALORIZAÇÃO DA DIVERSIDADE CULTURAL NA PERSPECTIVA DA INTERCULTURALIDADE CRÍTICA

Abstract

This article discusses the study of Indigenous history and cultures in Brazilian school education, analyzing the historical trajectory of indigenist policies and their current implications. Indigenous peoples have been historically marginalized by the State, which formulated policies that prevented their autonomy, reinforcing the historical processes of ethnocide underway since the beginning of colonization. Such state practices also influenced school education, which contributed to the dissemination of numerous stereotypes and prejudices regarding these peoples. However, in the last decades of the twentieth century, Indigenous peoples organized politically, giving rise to the Indigenous Movement, which enabled a more structured struggle for recognition and territorial rights. In the twenty-first century, some achievements have been made in the field of school education, such as Law 11.645/2008, which made the study of Indigenous history and cultures mandatory in Brazilian classrooms. The article concludes that, beyond legislation, it is necessary to rethink school practices, teaching materials, and approaches to Indigenous history and cultures, valuing their knowledge, resistance, and contributions, and outlining pathways for valuing cultural diversity from the perspective of critical interculturality.