The Word and the Land

The Word and the Land was the first seminar we organized on Indigenous experiences in higher education. It took place in May 2025, in Porto Nacional, Tocantins, in collaboration with Marcelo Santos Rodrigues, from the Federal University of Tocantins. The meeting brought together students, professors, researchers, and Indigenous leaders to discuss territoriality, orality, memory, permanence policies, and academic practices.

From this experience, we expanded collaborative networks between UERJ and UFT and consolidated lines of work devoted to Indigenous knowledge, permanence in higher education, and Indigenous presence within the university. The initiative is part of an extension project co-coordinated with Marcelo Santos Rodrigues within the CNPq Research Group History, Memory, and Latin American Narratives. During the activities, we visited the Xerente Indigenous Territory with IPHAN technicians to identify and document a set of rock paintings in shelters near the Maracujá village.