Célia Xakriabá

Xakriabá argues that present-day Brazilian education does not do enough to explore the history of minorities such as indigenous and African Brazilians, which she says results in these peoples feeling disconnected from their own history and ancestry. Xakriabá claims that education for indigenous Brazilian youth must make the connection between their ancestral land to their heritage, identity, and spirituality. Xakriabá has also been a critic of the observance of the Gregorian calendar holidays in Brazilian education, saying that western and Christian holidays have no significance for indigenous Brazilians.^[8]

She says that the absence of Brazilian women from positions of authority, in general, and indigenous women in particular, has to do with colonialism and western values. Xakriabá says that the lack of female representation is one of the causes for violence against indigenous women in Brazil.^[1] According to her, women's influence also is limited by the way Brazilian schools present the history of colonization, which makes native societies seem more primitive and patriarchal than what she believes they were.^[14]

Xakriabá says that the colonial processes of genocide and ethnocide begin with killing off the indigenous peoples, followed by the destruction of indigenous identity, and lastly, the destruction of indigenous knowledge.^[15] Xakriabá has defended indigenously directed and produced cinema, saying that it promotes native knowledge.^[15]

She is a strong critic of the policies of the government of Jair Bolsonaro, saying that it is the legacy of white supremacy and indigenous genocide that stems from colonialism.^[16] During the 2018 election, Xakriabá took part in protests against Bolsonaro in São Paulo.^[17]