Decolonizing constructions of childhood and history: interrupting narratives of avoidance to children’s questions about social injustice

Abstract

Together, we the authors, wonder, write, imagine, suffer, and criticize the support of the Belo Monte Monster Dam in the Rio Xingu, in the heart of the Amazon, by two of our personal heroes and fellow Brazilians: Lula, former president and iconic founder of the Workers’ Party, and, Dilma Rousseff, our presidenta guerilheira. Using our autoethnographic reflections, memories, street poetry, and decolonizing wanderings, we try to make sense of this persistent disconnect between the “discovery” of Brazil by the Portuguese in 1500 and the brutal social injustices of our everyday life. And we bring constructions of childhood and history right into the center of this critique. Throughout, we invite the reader to imagine new ways of seeing and teaching children, and thus ourselves as educators and parents, to interrupt the avoidance approach to questions of inequalities in favor of decolonizing versions of history.

Keywords:

• decolonizing
• Belo Monte Dam
• childhood
• history
• indigenous genocide

Notes

1. Pero Vaz de Caminha was a Portuguese nobleman in charge of documenting the voyage for the King of Portugal. In a long letter, he describes the very first encounter with the indigenous people in a diary form. The entry above is the very first description he writes about the encounter.

2. Yellow Bird (2004) argues that the terms Indian and Native American are terms defined by the European conquerors. Like him, we prefer the terms First Nations or indigenous peoples.

3. Bandeirantes (flag bearers) are the Portuguese equivalent of the more well-known Spanish Conquistadores. The Bandeirantes were experienced military commanders with a sense of adventure, charged by the King of Portugal with searching for precious stones, gold, silver, hardwood, indigenous tribes, and exotic animals inland. They opened trails linking the coast with inland goods and were central to the early human traffic of enslaved natives and Africans. Current history textbooks still describe the Bandeirantes largely as brave pioneers and heroes (Fausto 1996; Taunay 1975). The most modern and admired highway in the state of São Paulo is named Bandeirantes. Parks, oversized monuments, neighborhoods, and key avenues in the city of São Paulo are named after them. All is festive celebration. Still.

4. We borrow this expression from Huey’s (2010) explanation of the Lakota word for a non-indigenous person, “wasichu,” the one who takes the best meat without regard for others.

5. We debated about whether to translate this passage. But we agreed that a more curious reader may have access to easy and free online translation. The shortcut is that this passage is a short composite of our reactions to the approval of the Belo Monte Monster Dam already shared in English. We hope you do not mind the inconvenience.

6. The Araguaia guerrilla was an armed movement against the military dictatorship of Brazil, active from 1966 to 1974 in the Araguaia river banks.

7. A copper-colored, “civilized,” or mestizo Indian, person of mixed and white ancestry.

8. One who comes from the mato (bush, jungle, forest); rustic country person.