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The ancient inhabitants of Brazil
Unicamp professor tells children about the origins of indigenous peoples,
in the first of a collection of 10 books on History
Which child would exchange discovering a secret or shortcut in a video game for knowing what an igaçaba is? Right away, it would be difficult to convince her. But with the didactics and simplicity applied in the book “The ancient inhabitants of Brazil”, written by historian Pedro Paulo Funari and edited by Fundação Editora Unesp, knowing the history and origin of the people who inhabited this country even before it was discovered becomes funny.
Launched in January, “The ancient inhabitants...” is the first volume of ten that make up the Nossa História collection, coordinated by professor Ernesta Zamboni, from the Department of Teaching Methodology at the Faculty of Education (FE) at Unicamp. The texts of all the books were standardized and adapted by children's book writer Luis Galdino to the language of the target audience (children and young people, between 7 and 11 years old, according to Ernesta).
With easy-to-read text – despite the range of data – and very well illustrated by graphic artist Isabel Voegeli Stever, the work brings another aspect of prehistory to the school bench. “The books for children that exist about this period basically tell the universal prehistory”, says Funari, professor in the Department of History at Unicamp. Regarding the origin of the people who lived in Brazil before its discovery in 1500, there is only one other work aimed at this age group: “The first inhabitants of Brazil”, by Norberto Luiz Guarinello), which is indicated in the “Books to consult” section , on the penultimate page of Funari’s work.
Doctor in archeology since 1990, the professor and author of the first volume of the Nossa História collection states that detailing, in a didactic way, from the probable origins of indigenous peoples to their habits, tastes, heritages and forms of manifestation is a way of encouraging learning on the subject, almost forgotten in Brazilian institutions. It is, above all, an attempt to replace the information responsible for constructing the caricatured and standardized image of the Indian with knowledge of the culture of people whose blood runs through the veins of more than 40 million Brazilians. “In the primary grades, the topic is hardly taught.”
Sources
– Some scholars believe that the Indians may have Asian origins, due to the features common to the Chinese and Japanese – straight hair, few hairs, slanted eyes. One of the explanations found in Funari's book for the departure of these people towards South America is the crossing of the Bering Strait, as the water level was lower and the easterners could have crossed the passage on foot. “A minority of experts believe that these people could have come across the Pacific, from Oceania”, says the researcher.
According to Funari, much has been lost from History. “About 99%”, he says, as what was preserved were ceramics, stones and paintings in the caves. “But almost nothing remains of the dances, houses and everyday customs”, he laments.
Despite the controversies regarding the date of arrival of the first inhabitants in Brazil, Funari states that, without a doubt, there were people living in Brazilian lands at least 10 thousand years ago. “There are theories about the arrival of Africans 40 thousand years ago, of Mongoloids 20 thousand years ago. I think up to 80 years is acceptable, although there is no reliable data.”
Photos of instruments used for hunting, the history of sambaquis, the importance of stone and ceramics, the taste for painting, lost rarities, the reconstruction of the terrestrial environment, the duties of indigenous groups, their customs, their language and their dia- day-to-day life are shown in texts and illustrations in “The ancient inhabitants of Brazil”.
between the lines
– The encouragement to study Archeology is, finally, the message written between the lines of the professor’s work.
Although it is not yet popular in university curricula, as it is an expensive and little publicized science, it is a very involved task, according to Funari. “But it’s good to remember that we live in a country where access to education is not easy. The number of people who go to university is restricted and this gets worse when we talk about postgraduate studies”, he laments. "A feather".
Oh, and the igaçaba? The large ceramic pot used in our early times to preserve cauim (corn beer), and which when it became old served as a funerary urn to store mortal remains and prevent their contact with the ground, is just one of the many curiosities reported in the book of Professor Funari.
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Our History Collection
The creator of the Nossa História collection, professor Ernesta Zamboni, used European examples to present denser texts about History to children. “To this end, we took care to obtain well-illustrated material, with faithful copies of museum objects, and a light and beautiful graphic design, developed by Mari Pini”, says the work coordinator. “In Europe, I saw many books with historiographical texts for this age group and I thought about how teaching here lacks this type of encouragement”.
The ten books, produced by researchers, historians, archaeologists and specialists in some particularities of History, aim to encourage reading, knowledge about one's own origins, serve as a complement to learning and better prepare students for a not-so-distant future. , according to Ernesta.
She highlights, in this process, the participation of Fundação Editora Unesp. “We want these students to arrive at universities better prepared to read, learn, research, and seek additional information,” she says. “And the publisher innovated, opening up space to publish, in addition to essays and academic books, texts for children and young people.”
The release of two other volumes of the Nossa História collection is scheduled for the middle of this year. Stories about the Portuguese sea and imperial Brazil will be the themes of the works of professors Paulo Micelli and Iara Lis Schiavinatto, both from Unicamp.
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