Indigenous Presence in Higher Education: Between Access Policies, Specific Courses, and Linguistic Discussions

Abstract

This article analyzes how the presence of Indigenous students at the State University of Amazonas (UEA) challenges Eurocentric perspectives on knowledge production and produces epistemological shifts that go beyond the notion of social inclusion. It questions to what extent the Indigenous presence in higher education breaks with historical dynamics of subalternation and epistemicide, promoting forms of interculturality and reconfiguration of knowledge regimes. Methodologically, the work is based on the construction of "scenes" as an analytical-narrative procedure, articulating experiences, discourses, and practices lived at the university. The text is organized into three scenes: the first discusses access to and interculturalization of the university; the second addresses extension experiences and Indigenous literacies; and the third focuses on the Indigenous Intercultural Pedagogy classes. The scenes operate as thought devices that highlight tensions, disputes, and reconfigurations in the field of knowledge.