Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Descobertas da discussão sobre a matemática indígena
(Discoveries from the
discussion on Indigenous mathematics).
Discoveries from the discussion on Indigenous mathematics: Presentation of Guarani
mathematics by Marcos Tupã, Rio Silveira Indigenous Area
Assisted by teachers Poty Poram (Jaraguá), Mariano (Rio Silveira), and Márcio
Rodrigues (Krukutu), Marcos Tupã spoke about Guarani Mbyá mathematics,
including ways in which his people reckons time, maps space, and conceptualizes
the meaning of numbers.
I am going to present here for you today what our group discussed last week at the
meeting. We discovered that all peoples have a lot of mathematical knowledge to
pass on to the children. These are old
conhecimentos
and new ones as well that
we have just documented at this meeting, such as the designs that accompany
Guarani numbers, as you will soon see. All of these ideas can be worked out
further within our own villages, whether inside or outside of the classroom. We
need to do a lot of research to document our own mathematics and to work it into
the public school system. This is a way to protect our human rights.
In these meetings it is important for us to have a space to discuss Indigenous
knowledges, and not only White-related school lessons. It is important to
produce educational materials that we can take back and use in our own schools
and villages. We have a lot of work ahead of us to develop and document our
knowledges and practices, showing the magnitude of our mathematics and the
power that it can bring to the people.
Now I will present a little about Guarani mathematics, starting with the
reckoning of time [
medida do tempo
].
First, I'm going to symbolize the seasons of the year, following the teachings
of the
pajé
. We have two seasons, while the
juruá
[non-Indigenous] have four.
This is our earth, which is always moving. In the Guarani language we say:
