Abstract
This article presents a reflection on Science Education in the context of indige-nous teachers training program of Maxakali indigenous group—people from the Northeastern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. An attempt is made to portray some concerns, reflections and investigations in search of a possible approach for Science Education for this context. The Maxakali preserve not only their language, but their chants, myths and an intense ritual life. Thus, life in the vil-lage is permeated by the relationship between the tikmu’n—as they name themselves and their yamiy, the singing spirits who are their source of knowledge. This dive into the tikmu’un universe and the reflections on a set of science classes that dealt with the Maxakali in a training course for indigenous teachers, made it possible to outline a proposal approach to Science Education. An approach permeated by a more symmetrical relationship between the two systems of knowledge. Science teaching and learning is an inventive practice or creative exercise in Wagnerian terms. It means thinking of science classrooms as a relational space that favors a double anthropological exercise, both of in-digenous students in search of an understanding of a science, and of science teachers seeking a greater understanding of the Amerindian universe. Science education is a cosmopolitical practice, a space for building a common world, as Latour suggests. This form of teaching reveals itself as pluricultural, recognizing the differences between two forms of rationality, scientific and traditional Maxakali, but also respecting and welcoming other ways of existing and knowing.
Highlights
IntroductionThe Maxakali, an indigenous people living in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, have a long history of resistance struggle
This article presents a reflection on Science Education in the context of indigenous teachers training program of Maxakali indigenous group—people from the Northeastern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil
The Maxakali, an indigenous people living in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, have a long history of resistance struggle
Summary
The Maxakali, an indigenous people living in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, have a long history of resistance struggle Against all odds, they have preserved, to this day, their language, their songs and their rituals. The Maxakali people call themselves tikmũ’ũn, an expression that means “we humans”, not in the sense of species, but of “human person”, of “people” This human condition is expressed through language, participation in rituals, wearing of clothing, props, paintings and specific objects, as well as knowledge of the group’s mythical songs and narratives. They come from the forest and remain among humans for long periods in which the yãmĩyxop—sacred rituals—ritual cycles in which the interaction between the Maxakali and the yãmĩy materializes. Body painting, and dance require important and well-developed skills among the Maxakali
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