UH Indigenous Studies has developed a collaborative project together with Amazonian universities. It was a first shared knowledge share initiative uniting the teams from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Brazil. The project Indigenous Studies on languages, traditional knowledge and the environment within Amazonian-Finnish collaboration was funded by the Finnish National Agency for Education (Opetushallitus).
The project included students and staff mobility and local workshops in Indigenous, linguistic, anthropological, and environmental research. The objective was to develop Indigenous research methodologies and ethical research and teaching, drawing from local epistemological frameworks, particularly in the areas of human-environment relationality and language development. The network facilitated the creation of cross-disciplinary networking opportunities and advanced vitalizing Indigenous languages and knowledges.
The closing seminar took place in May 2024 in Helsinki, when Indigenous studies group had the pleasure of hosting our colleagues from the UFAM Thiago Mota Cardoso, Justino Sarmento Rezende Tuyuka, and Rosijane Tukano and from the UFPA Sidney Facundes, Vilacy Galucio, and Cinthia Ishira. Among the issues discussed were Indigenous ethical research principles and protocols, Indigenous data and knowledge sovereignty, communal co-production of knowledge, Indigenous storytelling, human-environment relationality, and linguistic and cultural diversities of the regions represented by participating Indigenous researchers. Doctoral researchers and Master’s students who actively participated in the series of workshops led by Indigenous scholars from Brazilian Amazonia (the Negro and Purus Rivers) and Sápmi had the opportunity to earn study credits for their engagement.
The previous activities included a seminar at UFAM, Brazil, in November 2023. Then a small group of researchers and students from the UH Indigenous studies visited Manaus.
In October 2023, UH language technology team gave a workshop at UFPA, Belem. The visits have included numerous workshops, seminars, and public talks.
In March 2023, the first visit mobility from the UFAM took place at the UH, and the workshop included diverse events of co-learning and reciprocal knowledge as well as institutional visits.
Participation in the activities of the network project was an invaluable experience for all the researchers and students involved. As Indigenous researcher Justino Sarmento Rezende from the UFAM commented on his experience of the collaboration:
For us Indigenous people, this exchange for was an enriching moment. We learned a lot with the UH, with the professors and the Sámi scholars. We took our knowledge from the Amazonia to Helsinki. It made our ancestral knowledge visible. Therefore, it was relevant moment for my personal life and a historic moment for me and for the UFAM and for the UH.
The project is currently progressing to its final dissemination stage, which will continue until the end of 2024.