Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
it is she who does everything, taking care of the children. So it is she that should study
mathematics. For this reason I was chosen in Vanuíre to be the Financial Counselor.
Men's mathematics is more about life outside of the village, such as in the cutting and
selling of hearts of palm, marketplace purchases, and money.”
Área Indígena Guarani do Ribeirão Silveira
Guarani Indigenous Land of Ribeirão Silveira
The Ribeirão Silveira Indigenous Area is located in the northern coast of the
state of São Paulo, in between the municipalities of Bertioga and São Sebastião.
It was demarcated in 1987 with a total area of 948.40 hectares. The vegetation
is lush with many different plant species that are Native to the
Serra do Mar
[Costal Sierra], and a great variety of animals, such as the anteater, sloth,
armadillo, agouti
,
tapir, etc. The Guarani live from selling arts and crafts, and
from agriculture. We plant hearts of palm, banana, sugar cane, manioc, corn,
sweet potato, a few fruit trees, and we also plant ornamental flowers to sell.
At the village there is a pharmacy where a practical nurse works, as well as a
school house, where the teachers, the cook, and the general servant work. At the
village there is also a
técnico indigenista
[a technician for Indigenous issues],
an
agrônomo
[agricultural technician], and a physician. As our village is located
between two municipalities, Bertioga gives us educational services, and São
Sebastião takes care of our health.
Today in our village there are 6 groups, each one with a leader who helps the
headman. The
pajé
is the great religious leader of the community.
Mauro Karaí Samuel dos Santos, Cristiane Martins, Elaine Maria de Souza
Paião, and Weslene Pereira Santos.
Is There Only One Mathematics? Or Are There Different Mathematics?
By the third day of the workshop, non-Indigenous teachers were already talking
about “Indigenous mathematics,” and how much everyone could learn by studying
matemática indígena
or “Indigenous mathematics.” All participants thus requested
that we focus on the documented contributions of Indigenous Peoples to the field
of mathematics. The fourth day of the workshop was then dedicated to the study of
documented numerical systems of Indigenous Brazilians, starting with the Xavante
of Mato Grosso, central Brazil, and then moving on to the Palikur of the northernmost
state of Amapá. These choices reflected previous research in ethnomathematics, and
my teaching of mathematics among these nations. As we'll see next, mathematical
knowledges of the Xavante and Palikur peoples spurred critical arithmetic ideas of
the Guarani, Terena, Kaingang, and Krenak Peoples present at the workshop.
