BOYKA IXÓ: Memory and Continuities of Balatiponé Transformations
Boyka Ixó; Balatiponé People; Indigenous School Education; Traditional Knowledge; Autoethnography.
This dissertation aims to understand and value the traditional knowledge related to the Boyka Ixó (bow and arrow) of the Balatiponé people, highlighting its importance as cultural, educational, and identity heritage. Developed in the Balatiponé Indigenous Territory, at the Julá Paré Indigenous State School, the research is grounded in a qualitative, participatory, collaborative, ethnographic, and autoethnographic approach. The methodological procedures involved bibliographic research, participant observation, conversation circles with elders, pedagogical workshops, field classes, photographic records, and a field diary, emphasizing orality, community interaction, and the Balatiponé people's own ways of teaching and learning. The results show that the process of crafting the Boyka Ixó mobilizes knowledge related to the territory, the selection of raw materials, traditional production techniques, and cultural values transmitted across generations. The study also highlights the close relationship between the Boyka Ixó and collective fishing with timbó, a traditional practice that integrates environmental, cultural, spiritual, and educational knowledge, strengthening the bonds between territory, nature, and community. The pedagogical workshops developed with the participation of elders and students revealed the potential of traditional knowledge as a foundation for intercultural educational practices, promoting learning through observation, practice, orality, and community interaction. It is concluded that the Boyka Ixó constitutes an important pedagogical instrument for strengthening Indigenous School Education, contributing to the appreciation of memory, identity, ancestry, and the culture of the Balatiponé people. As an educational product, an illustrated didactic material on the crafting of the Boyka Ixó was developed to support the pedagogical practices of the Julá Paré Indigenous State School and to contribute to the preservation and dissemination of traditional knowledge to future generations.