Perspectives of indigenous academics in confronting racism at universities

Abstract

This paper is the result of the synthesis of a Kaingang researcher’s master’s degree in co-authorship with a non-indigenous researcher. It reflects part of the author’s narrative as a woman, mother, and researcher belonging to the Kaingang people and the dialogue with others Ava-Guarani women and academics. It aims to reflect on the racism experienced daily by indigenous women in universities as they become researchers, intellectuals, protagonists, subjects, and authors of the knowledge they produce. This insertion inaugurates a new moment in the history of indigenous peoples in Brazil and contributes to new strategies of resistance and strengthening of the struggles of these women, providing greater visibility and recognition of the trajectories of indigenous students, educated by public universities, in a recent context of affirmative action policies. It is a qualitative research, carried out through bibliographic review, documentary research, and field research based on dialogues with indigenous women and academics from the western region of Paraná, resulting in this author’s master’s dissertation.

Keywords: Indigenous higher education; indigenous academics; indigenous women; racism.