This paper presents the results of a PhD research that investigated the role of language mediation in the training of professionals to teach indigenous people, seeking to investigate its influence on the changes and preservation of indigenous culture. This study was based on theoretical and methodological assumptions of cultural-historical Psychology. The present study investigated a teacher training course, Tamî'kan - Indigenous Teacher Education, in the State of Roraima, and the data were collected through classroom observations and semi-structured interviews that were conducted with 10 students and 3 course coordinators. The results indicate difficulties undergone by the indigenous students resulting from previous teaching experiences by non-indigenous teachers, especially regarding the Portuguese language. This relationship leads to contradictions in terms of indigenous culture and can influence the students' character and professional life.
Culture; Teaching; Indigenous population; Historic-cultural psychology