Affirmative policies for Indigenous peoples: the public university as a territory in the midst of demarcation and reclaiming

Abstract

Based on the experiences of three black scholars, this article investigates the processes involved in the implementation of affirmative action policies for indigenous students. To this end, we construct a narrative path that leads us to reflect on the Special Indigenous Selection Process at the Federal University of Oeste do Pará, in which two of us were directly involved, all the way to a debate on the consequences of the presence of indigenous and black students hailing from communities in the west of the state of Pará, where Ufopa is located. The article provides an analytical overview of the impacts of affirmative action policies on the lives of indigenous students and their communities. Finally, it asks questions on the dynamics of universities from which we speak and where we, as black scholars, establish relations in the classroom and in th political anti-racist struggles that are carried out within the university.

Keywords:
Indigenous Students; Black Scholars, Affirmative Action.