Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
added Fabiana Oliveira, “I'm really good at counting, calculating money, fabric
for clothes, and measuring everything, even better than Kaingang men.” Dimas
Nascimento concurred: “If we Pankararu didn't have our own mathematics, we
couldn't survive this world full of numbers, and make do in a big city like São
Paulo. Say some more! You say there are culturally distinct forms of working with
quantities, numbers, measurements and geometric forms? Let's everybody explain
our own ways of doing that.” Further, the educators agreed, in principle, after
discussing some of the Xavante and Palikur mathematics contained in
Madikauku,
that the various ways of being, thinking, and acting in the world are intrinsically
related to the ways in which mathematical systems are conceptualized. All agreed
that it makes no sense to oppose Indigenous mathematics to non-Indigenous or
Western mathematics - where's the evidence for that?
At the end of the fifth day of the workshop, half-way through our two-week event,
there was general consensus that all human beings have the intellectual ability to
develop mathematical ideas, as shown in many studies in cognitive anthropology
and ethnomathematics.
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In addition, everyone agreed with a basic human right, now
granted to Indigenous Peoples, too, which states:
Indigenous Peoples have the right to practice and revitalize their cultural
traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and
develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as
archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies
and visual and performing arts and literatures (UN DRIP article 11).
Mathematical systems may be as distinct as the myriad ways in which human
societies worldwide order and classify the universe they live in and fashion at the
same time. The little that is known about Palikur, Xavante, Guarani, Kaingang,
Terena, Krenak or Pankararu mathematics is sufficient to refute prejudiced ideas
about the simplicity of the “Indigenous mind,” and guarantee that the adoption by
the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sends a clear message to the
international community that the rights of Indigenous Peoples are not separate from
or less than the rights of others. Instead, they are an integral part of a human rights
system dedicated to the rights of all.
Second Week - The mathematics of the Guarani, Terena, Kaingang, Krenak,
and Pankararu Indigenous Peoples of the State of São Paulo.
Inspired by our first week discussions and presentations about the diversity of
mathematical ideas represented at the workshop, the Guarani Nhandeva, Guarani
Mbyá, Kaingang, Krenak, Pankararu, Terena and non-Indigenous teachers got
together on the first day of the second week of classes to plan presentations about
particular aspects of their own mathematical systems and educational programs.
Marcus Tupã, a Guarani Mbyá teacher from the coastal village of Boa Vista, 230
km (142 miles) north of the capital, formally opened the workshop section entitled
