{"id":80489,"date":"2025-02-22T13:09:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T16:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=80489"},"modified":"2025-02-28T10:39:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T13:39:34","slug":"the-multiethnic-indigenous-university-of-aldeia-maracana-indigenous-knowledge-and-forest-education-in-the-heart-of-rio-de-janeiro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=80489","title":{"rendered":"The Multiethnic Indigenous University of Aldeia Maracan\u00e3: Indigenous Knowledge and Forest Education in the Heart of Rio de Janeiro"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Representatives<\/a>
Representatives of Maracan\u00e3 Village at the Anama Sapopemba Festival, where they showcased their rich ancestral traditions through singing, dancing, and culture. Photo: Sophia Vie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This article, the result of an interview with M\u00f4nica Lima Mura Mana\u00fa Arawak, Brazil’s only university professor of its Mura indigenous people, is part of a series<\/a>\u00a0created in partnership with the\u00a0Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies<\/a>\u00a0at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the\u00a0Digital Brazil Project<\/a>\u00a0on environmental justice in the favelas for\u00a0RioOnWatch.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOur biggest challenges, beyond lack of resources and official recognition by the State, are the frequent attacks from that very State, alongside developers, who insist on expelling us from our ancestral territory to carry out their projects. We recently received an eviction order, but we mobilized important political forces nationally and internationally for the demarcation of our lands, the official recognition of our Maracan\u00e3 Village Multiethnic Indigenous University \u00a0[UIPAM], and the restoration of the building that once housed the Indigenous Museum<\/a> to honor its history in support of the struggles of indigenous peoples. In addition to honoring the memory of indigenous peoples, [UIPAM] also serves as a safe space, since we are already a living museum. Its preservation should be treated as urgent by a city that invaded the forest!\u201d \u2014 M\u00f4nica Lima Mura Mana\u00fa Arawak<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Only Mura University Professor Reflects on the Importance of UIPAM<\/h3>\n

Raised in the city of Rio de Janeiro, M\u00f4nica Lima Mura Mana\u00fa Arawak, PhD, a professor at the Maracan\u00e3 Village Multiethnic Indigenous University (UIPAM<\/a>), belongs to the Mura people<\/a> and speaks Arawak<\/a> as her first language. Founder of the Ancestral Matriarchal Collective<\/a>, she states that forest education can be the solution to the problems generated by coloniality<\/a> and modernity. She describes the importance of the Maracan\u00e3 Village Multiethnic Indigenous University for the city, but above all for those who live and resist in Aldeia Maracan\u00e3<\/a> (Maracan\u00e3 Village), an indigenous village in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, which has been rebuilding<\/a> and growing since<\/a> pre-2016 Olympic forced evictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to resist and defend our body-territory<\/a>. In Maracan\u00e3 Village, life, autonomy, self-management, and forest education are part of the daily routine, and everything is being shared at the Maracan\u00e3 Village Multiethnic Indigenous University (UIPAM). Every day, we welcome students and teachers from state, municipal, and federal schools and universities. Life unfolds at the Multiethnic University, as we are a multiethnic village, and each ethnic group is a university: a territory that generates ethnoknowledge<\/a> [knowledge systems of traditional peoples, deeply rooted in their cosmologies, ways of life, and resistance to colonial structures]. We created the Maracan\u00e3 Village Multiethnic Indigenous University without important resources and structure; the autonomy of our university was built by indigenous people themselves. We face daily challenges, yet we generate our own knowledge through practice and manage our own territory. UIPAM has influenced and redefined the perception of indigenous cultures in the urban landscape of Rio de Janeiro. Every day, it welcomes universities, schools, and other national and international institutions for debates, collective action, classes, workshops, and immersive experiences, promoting critical intercultural education. Many of our professors teach at other universities and schools, spreading knowledge and challenging dominant narratives.\u201d \u2014 M\u00f4nica Lima Mura Mana\u00fa Arawak<\/p><\/blockquote>\n