Imposibilidad del mapeo bijetivo entre conocimientos matemáticos indígenas y eurocéntricos

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the problem of translating mathematical knowledge in contexts of indigenous school education, from three aspects: (i) different languages are based on different reference systems, (ii) the logics of different mathematical knowledge are not equivalent and (iii) there is an impossibility of bijective mappings between Indigenous and Eurocentric mathematical knowledge. In this sense, the conception of isomorphic translation associated with the prescribed bilingualism as a characteristic of indigenous school education in Brazil is problematized. This theme is explored theoretically and illustrated with the analysis of textual productions of indigenous students from an intercultural indigenous licentiate-degree course in the Amazon. As a result, it is shown that the idea of a total translation of Eurocentric mathematical knowledge between Portuguese and indigenous languages, inherent to a colonialist conception of school education for indigenous peoples, needs to be overcome, in order to promote the decoloniality of indigenous school education.