Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
1. With autonomy, Indigenous Peoples in Brazil are going to gain techniques for
bettering their life conditions and to guarantee the demarcation of their lands,
defend their rights, and develop planting techniques.
2. The situation of Guarani mathematics today: our parents and grandparents
already had their own mathematics in the Guarani language. Brazilians are not
able to see this. But these days we need to learn Western mathematics as well
to have autonomy in the greater national society. I learned that this is a human
right.
3. Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples need mathematics. We all need to learn
how to do certain kinds of calculations, to use a plus or a minus, to divide or
multiply. We ourselves need to make our own calculations. This is mathematical
autonomy, and helps our self-determination.
4. If Indigenous Peoples are equal to all other Peoples, then we all know
mathematics. But if we also have the right in the Constitution to be different,
then our mathematics can also be different. This is important to understand,
because if you don't know your rights, how can you defend yourself?
5. Now we know we know: even living in a shantytown, our mathematical ideas
are important. I want to draw a map of our village in Pernambuco and how
far away that is. Then I want to show that the Pankararu are also very close to
everybody here because we all have the same problems. I want to know more
about our rights to our ancestral lands, because I am a teacher and I want to teach
my community in the Favela Real Parque about self-determination. That means
we can make our own decisions about our future.
6. We need a lot of mathematics - calculations for the plantations and livestock,
calculations about where to build fences, calculations about where to spend the
money we earn, calculations about what medicines to buy, calculations about
what schools to have, calculations about everything! Mathematics is for our
cultural survival.
7. To defend ourselves from the Whites, we need to learn many things about the
White society. This we've known for a long time. But to realize that it is my
responsibility to educate my children and all the youth about our own Kaingang
mathematics, well, that's a different thing. Even better to learn that children also
have human rights. I am glad to know that Brazil signed that document [UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child].
8. Mathematics is important for everything, this is one thing we learned here, and
that we'll never forget. When I walk across my village everyday to go to the
river, I will remember that I know how to read a map. I know numbers! But I also
know the trees, and the rocks, and where the animals hide. I can cook and use
a lot of diffent foods, measure them together to make cakes, bread, stews. And
I can orient myself looking at the stars! This is our own Krenak mathematics.
9. Now we know that we have the right to self-determination, to deciding what's
good for us, we want to make sure our mathematics is taught in our Guarani
language in our own schools. This will make us strong, very strong.
