Iolanda dos Santos Mendonça: the participation of women in indigenous movements (1970-2000)

Abstract

The present study unveils the stories and memories of the indigenous Iolanda dos Santos Mendonça, focusing on her contributions to the educational scenario and to indigenous movements between the years 1970 and 1996. Through research supported, theoretically, on the assumptions of “Cultural History” (Burke, 2008), of the “biographical” type (Dosse, 2009; Loriga, 2011), Thompson (1992), Meihy and Holanda (2007) and Meihy, Ribeiro, (2011), for understanding the advances of their research in the field of Oral History, which used the oralities of the biographer Iolanda dos Santos Mendonça - recorded, transcribed, textualized and validated. The analysis allowed us to constitute a narrative about indigenous education and the professional performance of Iolanda, reporting her participation in the educational scenario and in indigenous movements, whose main focus was the search for improvements for indigenous education and the quality of life for her people. Her entire life trajectory took place in the Brazilian territory, municipality of Baía da Traição - PB, in Aldeia do Forte, as well as part of his educational background, passing through a traditional education, with rigid disciplines, and, faced with such rigor, aimed at a differentiated education for schools in indigenous villages.