Ethnobotanics and Indigenous School Education: A Possibility Among the Paiter Suruí

• Autor(a) principal: Dias Suruí, Nauama
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Suruí Dias, Chicoepab
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Tear: Revista de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ifrs.edu.br/index.php/tear/article/view/4503

Abstract: Within their cultural context, indigenous peoples have an extremely close relation with nature, especially with plants. Ethnobotany is a discipline that aims to document, maintain, and valorize these types of knowledge. Given this background, the current research aims to document the ethnobotanical knowledge, specifically in relation to plants, of the indigenous group the Paiter Suruí of Rondonia, with the aim of valuing the importance of this knowledge through increased indigenous education initiatives. In order to accomplish this, we conducted a bibliographic study of the academic research conducted by those working with the Paiter Suruí. The results of this research show that the Paiter Suruí traditionally have maintained a vast ethnobotanical knowledge, including a variety of traditional medicinal remedies for maladies such as diarrhea, conjunctivitis, and inflammations. However, the study revealed that this knowledge has dissipated over time, mainly due to contact with non-indigenous communities, and with an educational model that ignores ethnocognition. As a result, this study concludes proposing that teachers within indigenous education use pedagogical methods that promote the importance of traditional knowledge practices and that enable indigenous students to actively participate in these learning processes. Keywords: Ethnocognition. Indigenous peoples. Education. Medicinal plants.