Valuing and integrating traditional languages, knowledges, and practices of the Yawanawa and Katukina Peoples.

Territorial Coverage / Scope

Indigenous Land of Rio Gregório – Tarauacá – Acre – Brazil

Biome	Ecosystem(s)	Watershed and / or Micro-watershed(s):	Area to be worked (ha)
Amazon	Dryland and Floodplain	Amazon	187 M

Lines of Action

• Priority Line of Action: Culture, Language, Spirituality and Traditional Knowledge
• Secondary Line(s) of Action (optional): Biodiversity, Forests and Climate, Indigenous Right.

The Project

For many decades since the early 19th century, the Yawanawa and Katukina people have had to endure various forms of cultural abuse and exploitation by different colonizers, including rubber tappers and later missionaries. After much resistance and struggle, these peoples managed to secure their rights. An important achievement in the 1990s was the right to differentiated school education, including traditional teacher training. This achievement initiated the revitalization of traditional knowledge and the native languages. However, to keep the ancestral memory and the Pano language of the Yawanawa and Katukina people alive, it is essential to integrate efforts among shamans, leaders, teachers, and holders of traditional knowledge and practices in education and transmission to the youth and children. As such knowledge and practices are transmitted orally or through imitation and demonstration, with the passing of many elderly relatives in both groups, there is currently a gap in knowledge, threatening the survival of linguistic heritage, culture, ecological knowledge, and ancestral wisdom. Many young people, for example, no longer speak their ancestral language, thus cutting their connection to their traditional heritage and spiritual lineage. Our project will mainly address the urgent opportunity to value the cultural and ecological traditional knowledge, language and spirituality of the Yawanawa and Katukina Peoples. There are few remaining populations in the Amazon who know how to use this traditional knowledge while contributing to co-production of knowledge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

The general objective of the project is to promote interethnic relations between the Yawanawa and Katukina Peoples to strengthen the autonomy of the Pano linguistic group and promote the valorization of traditional knowledge and practices (ecological, cultural, and spiritual) that intersect both peoples. Specific objectives include: (i) Recuparation of the traditional language of both groups; (ii) Reintegration of young people and children into Indigenous ancestral language and practices; (iii) Inclusion of women as protagonists in traditional educational formation; (iv) Integration of knowledge for the implementation and dissemination of SDGs. For this purpose, the following actions will be developed in a participatory manner using methods adapted to the local context: empowerment of elderly educators; formation of groups with Indigenous language proficiency; exchange programs between villages; creation of educational materials; construction of fixed and mobile traditional schools; training of women teachers in traditional education; formation of women-only groups for the exchange of ancestral feminine knowledge; workshops focusing on medicinal plants for female health issues; implementation of traditional model gardens; workshops and practical classes for the recovery of the language and traditional knowledge; capacity building in ecological traditional knowledge; workshops for the exchange of ancestral knowledge of native medicinal plants; creation of a multilingual catalog with identification and description of the use of medicinal plants; promotion and participation in seed exchange fairs; organization of rounds of sharing Indigenous stories and myths; meetings for the co-production of traditional and scientific knowledge with a focus on SDG implementation; dissemination of the results of knowledge co-production meetings in political arenas (state and national) and social networks (e.g., Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform); interethnic spiritual experiences. The main outcomes of the project include: (i) revitalization of the Pano language and various traditional knowledge (e.g., ecological, cultural, and spiritual); (ii) conservation of native species; (iii) creation of traditional schools; (iv) empowerment of women and young people; (v) co-creation of knowledge that allows the integration of traditional knowledge in SDG implementation.

History and Reality

Since ancient times, the Yawanawas and Katukinas have inhabited the headwaters of the Rio Gregório in the Western Amazon. The current population of both groups totals approximately 1500 people, living in 12 villages. However, their traditional culture and practices were decimated by the impacts brought by colonization since the first contacts with non-indigenous people around the early 20th century (e.g., rubber tappers and missionaries). In 1984, after years of slavery and struggles, the Yawanawas and Katukinas achieved the demarcation of the Rio Gregório indigenous land, with support from the National Indian Foundation – FUNAI (Forest Trends 2016). It was from that point that they regained their rights as a People, initiating the revitalization of their culture and language, preserved in the memories of their elders. The Yawanawa and Katukina peoples inhabit a part of the Amazon rainforest that harbors an abundance of native plants and species (CPI 2005). For generations, they have cared for their lands and become acquainted with many of these species. They use different medicinal plants, for example, to treat various types of diseases (e.g., headaches, stomach aches, snakebites; among other essential healing techniques and rituals) (Albuquerque 1989; Schultes and Raffauf 1980). In these indigenous groups’ traditional experience, human health is closely linked to community health and the health of the environment (van den Berg 1993; Duke and Vasquez 1994). Today, this connection between humans and the environment is almost lost, and this is the root of the current socio-environmental crisis.

For most low-income rural and urban populations in this region, native plants are the main source of subsistence and available treatments for diseases. Although the Yawanawa and Katukina peoples work towards the conservation of these species, they have never been cataloged and are now threatened by different land uses (e.g., logging in neighboring areas and slash-and-burn practices for subsistence agriculture). Our project, therefore, aims to contribute to the revitalization of indigenous language and traditional knowledge while collaborating in the conservation and mapping of these endangered species. These plants are also essential “roads” for Amazon wildlife, being fundamental for the preservation of native fauna. More importantly, if traditional knowledge and the use of these species are not shared with younger generations, it could be lost forever. The project aims to rescue traditional indigenous language and knowledge over the next two years while promoting biodiversity conservation and empowering young people and women. These objectives are prioritized in the life plan of the Yawanawa, developed in partnership with the non-governmental organization Forest Trends (2016), but have not yet been effectively implemented.

Importance

Indigenous peoples take care of 22% of the global land base, 80% of the remaining biodiversity, and 20% of the world’s forest carbon stocks (UN 2009; Sobrevila 2008; EDF 2015). The traditional and sustainable knowledge derived from different indigenous practices with the natural environment they occupy provides a foundation for a way of life practiced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. These ways of life serve as models for sustainability, conservation, and protection of the natural environment for millennia. Many of these sustainable land-use practices are born, developed, and successfully implemented without significant influence from external stakeholders (Mistry et al. 2015). A prerequisite for such solutions is indigenous traditional knowledge, which is local and context-specific, transmitted orally or through imitation and demonstration, adaptable to changing environments, collective through shared social memory, and situated in numerous interconnected aspects of these groups’ lives (Mistry 2009). This local knowledge is increasingly recognized as important, considering the growing challenges of global environmental and social governance (Ford et al. 2016). At the same time, however, the UN has identified Indigenous Peoples and indigenous women, in particular, as among the most vulnerable groups to global environmental changes, including climate change (UN, 2010).

Of the approximately twenty letters and declarations made by international indigenous organizations (Posey 1999), all express concern about the lack of understanding by “dominant sector societies” of the values of Indigenous Peoples, the “special relationship such peoples have with the land,” and the lack of recognition of “traditional technologies and subsistence systems that are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago” (Declaration of Indigenous Peoples participating in the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development 1996). This marginalization affects the abilities of Indigenous Peoples to reaffirm their ways of life and cultivate well-being, as well as the capacity of indigenous people to share their knowledge and collaborate in protecting the global environment and advancing progress towards the SDGs. When the Yawanawa and Katukina came into contact with Western society about 200 years ago, their way of life was completely altered. The subsequent spread of deforestation brought the local environment to its breaking point. With the loss of the forest, the decrease in native plants followed. The conservation of native and medicinal plants and the sharing of traditional knowledge between elders and youth are therefore urgent issues, as there are not many living elders in both groups, and the youth are increasingly interested in Western culture. It is important to recognize that conservation and development ideologies worldwide are heavily influenced by political agendas dominated by Western concepts and knowledge (e.g., payments for environmental services). The danger is that indigenous knowledge and practices may change in their use and application due to this influence and, more critically, in their ability to address complex issues (e.g., climate change).

Traditional knowledge can help modify how Western societies use ecosystems to prioritize our deep interdependence with nature. This will make traditional knowledge more acceptable and relevant to different cultures while critically promoting social justice and establishing self-determination as a key principle of indigenous engagement in global debates on development and conservation. Decades of research recognize the fundamental contributions that indigenous peoples make and could make towards effective global governance (e.g., Ellen & Harris, 2000; Agrawal, 2009; Chambers, 1983). Scholars, policymakers, and professionals often call for the integration of traditional knowledge and co-production to advance towards global objectives, and the SDGs themselves call for more equality and prosperity (Griggs 2013; Scheyvens et al. 2016; Mistry & Berardi 2016). In this sense, the project offers a promising opportunity for indigenous peoples to reclaim their traditions, share their knowledge, collaborate for sustainable development while reinforcing their capacity for adaptation and autonomy. In addition to the recovery and sharing of Yawanawa and Katukina traditional knowledge, the project aims to enhance the actions that have been carried out under the scope of the Zero Waste Village initiative. In order to continue the actions already implemented by the initiative in the work area, the project will integrate components of environmental education that are foreign to indigenous culture (e.g., waste management).

Objectives Over 2 Years

1. Promotion of the interethnic relationship between the Yawanawa and Katukina Indigenous Peoples for the strengthening of the Pano linguistic branch.

1.1. Empowerment of 6 elder educators
1.2. Formation of 2 groups with indigenous people who are fluent in the original language
1.3. Conducting 8 linguistic exchanges between villages
1.4. Creating an educational plan to recuperate and teach the original language

2. Valuation of traditional knowledge (ecological, cultural, and spiritual)

2.1. Creation of educational material to recover the original language
2.2. Creation of educational material describing native seeds, traditional planting practices, and traditional soil use and conservation of natural resources
2.3. Conducting 4 training sessions on traditional ecological knowledge
2.4. Conducting 8 workshops for the exchange of ancestral knowledge of native medicinal plants
2.5. Creation of a multilingual catalog with identification and description of the use of medicinal plants
2.6. Conducting 8 interethnic spiritual experiences
2.7. Creation of participatory films about the history and culture of the Yawanawa and Katukina peoples

3. Reinsertion of young people and children into indigenous ancestral practices

3.1 Creation of 2 fixed traditional schools and one itinerant
3.2 Implementation of 10 traditional gardens
3.3 Conducting 8 workshops and 16 practical classes to recover the original language and traditional knowledge with teachers and students
3.4 Organization of 24 rounds of sharing indigenous stories and myths

4. Inclusion of women as protagonists in traditional educational formation

4.1 Training of at least 8 female teachers in traditional education
4.2 Formation of 2 groups composed exclusively of women for the exchange of ancestral feminine knowledge
4.3 Conducting 8 workshops focusing on medicinal plants for the healing of women’s health issues

Participants

Number of expected direct participants: 300
Number of expected occasional participants: 1500

Children 0 – 11	Adolecents 12 – 14	15 – 17	18 – 29	Adults 30+	Total
50	50	50	50	100	300

Priority Groups

Women: Women play a fundamental role in the traditional education of the Yawanawa people. Educators are primarily women. In 2005, two women, Putanny and her sister Hushahu, performed the sacred traditional oath of the Yawanawa people. For the first time in the history of an Amazonian tribe, women gained recognition for the ancestral wisdom of the people. They became the first female shamans (pajés) in Brazil, and Putanny was one of the five personalities honored in 2006 by the Brazilian Senate on International Women’s Day. Our project will continue the work initiated by Putanny and Hushahu, supporting and including more women as protagonists in Yawanawa’s traditional and spiritual formation.

Traditional Peoples and Communities: Since time immemorial, the Yawanawás have occupied the headwaters of the Rio Gregório, a tributary of the Rio Juruá, in the municipality of Tarauacá, in the state of Acre – Western Amazon. The Yawanawa people belong to the Pano linguistic group. With a population of approximately 1000 individuals living in eight villages, the Yawanawa people are the priority audience of the project. However, the Katukina people, also located in the indigenous area of the Rio Gregório, will be the secondary traditional group of the project. The Katukina belong to the same linguistic group as the Yawanawa, the Pano. Thus, both peoples share similar traditions, practices, and knowledge. The project aims to promote the interethnic relationship between these two groups with the goal of strengthening the linguistic group and the traditional knowledge that intersects these peoples.

Indigenous Peoples: The Yawanawa people are traditionally recognized as the “Povo da Queixada,” the people who never separate. The Katukina emphasize in their own history the contacts with neighboring indigenous groups, through which they reformulate and reconstruct their social arrangements and are recognized as the “panos de todas as raças” (Rivet 1920). The project aims to strengthen and value the traditional knowledge and spiritual practices of both peoples. The main objective is to stimulate differentiated traditional education, starting with the recovery of the linguistic roots of the Pano group, the promotion of traditional planting practices, the exchange of ancestral knowledge about native plants, cultural revitalization, and the rescue of traditional stories and myths.

Children and Adolescents: Children and adolescents from the Yawanawa and Katukina peoples are a crucial target audience for the project. Both the Yawanawa and the Katukina have experienced the consequences of hundreds of years of colonization, which threaten the survival of their language, culture, and ancestral wisdom. As a result, there is a generation gap, as many young people no longer speak their ancestral language, thereby cutting their connection to their heritage. The project aims to overcome this gap by rescuing traditional education and rekindling the interest of children and adolescents in the ancestral practices, traditional culture, and spiritual lineage of both peoples.

Youth (15-29 years old): Unfortunately, since the contact with other peoples, both the Yawanawa and the Katukina have undergone a homogenization of the educational model, resulting in a lack of interest among indigenous youth in traditional education. Today, indigenous youth seek to go to the cities in search of alternative education and didactic models that are mostly formulated by non-indigenous individuals. This leads to indigenous migration from rural areas to cities, and in most cases, it makes the youth vulnerable to the competitive job market in urban settings. As they struggle to integrate fairly into this market, many young individuals return to their villages. The project will work with the youth to promote the vital role they play in appropriating the ancestral traditional knowledge from older generations to keep the traditions alive and avoid the epistemicide of these peoples. The traditional knowledge is directly linked to their physical, social, and cultural reproduction and their very existence.

Methodology

The Yawanawa’s life plan was created in partnership with the non-governmental organization Forest Trends through a participatory and legitimate process involving different indigenous leaders of the Yawanawa people in 2016. This process identified several objectives to be implemented in the following 10 years. However, due to lack of financial resources, the implementation of these objectives has been stalled. Three main objectives are: (i) the rescue and preservation of the Pano linguist branch and the exchange of the Yawanawa and Katukina cultures; (ii) the strengthening of holistic and traditional education; (iii) training in environmental education and organic agriculture. The project aims to continue the efforts already initiated within the scope of the life plan, in order to practically develop actions necessary to implement its objectives. Traditional education is distinct and utilizes methodologies originating from indigenous peoples. In the case of the Yawanawa and Katukina, it is conducted in various ways, starting with parents and the teachings of the elders in the village, who are the storytellers and shamans. The stories told provide various examples of people who lived in the past. For example: the story of the young man who did not obey his parents, the story of the lazy young man, and the story of parents who did not give advice to their sons (CPI 2007). The teachings include behavioral aspects as well as traditional information of the peoples. The education is differentiated for boys and girls. The elderly are considered the greatest source of traditional knowledge, “a living school that speaks every day and all the time without stopping. They are the archives of history, the geographers, the scientists within their world of knowledge” (Nani Yawanawá, teacher, personal communication).

Traditional education offers the opportunity to maintain traditional customs such as language, festivals, rituals, beliefs, and songs of the people. According to the Yawanawa and Katukina, “traditional education is the identity of a people, to continue living where they have always been. White people’s education came to record the language in writing for future generations. The school ensures that the Yawanawa people will continue to live as indigenous people but without losing sight that the white people’s society is different from ours” (Nani Yawanawá, teacher, personal communication). The Yawanawa and Katukina see the world of non-indigenous society with a huge difference in all aspects. Differentiated education establishes that the didactic material to be used must be created by indigenous people, in the native language. The teacher in the traditional school not only teaches reading and writing but is also obligated to participate in the collective work of the community. The teacher in the differentiated school gives students the opportunity to learn more about traditional education, seeing and engaging in the games and music that are always present in the teachings of indigenous peoples. The methodology and activities in the differentiated school are chosen by the indigenous teacher according to the students’ needs. The teacher respects the students and their parents, recognizes and respects the elders as repositories of stories and myths, recognizes the elders as geographers, as scientists within indigenous knowledge (CPI 2007).

Because of this, our project will approach education as an opportunity to build traditional teaching methods, developing a methodology and typology that integrate indigenous knowledge production lessons with an empirical approach built together with the Yawanawa and Katukina. Inspired by social technology methodologies, the project will identify the necessary conditions for successful integration of traditional knowledge to understand critical gaps in the current imminent loss of this knowledge. The idea is to develop a collaborative, multidisciplinary education project based on methods that respect the local context and are primarily led by the involved communities. To navigate effectively in this differentiated scenario of traditional education and progress toward the project’s objectives, the integration of indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge will be done collaboratively, observing principles of collectivism. This integration and co-production are necessary to push the boundaries of knowledge and ensure that “no one is left behind” (the main goal of the SDGs). Identifying and understanding the necessary conditions for successful integration of different knowledge will also help address critical issues in the current governance of the SDGs. Additionally, the project aims to implement at least five critical methods for work in indigenous communities proposed by Smith (1999) – indigenize, connect, create, represent, and discover – in order to ensure that indigenous autonomy is central to the methods applied by the project. Detailed protocols for all methods will be finalized in collaboration with the Yawanawa and Katukina peoples, as appropriate. To help facilitate and guide our methodological approach, we will establish an Implementation Committee for the Project. This committee will enable the team to carry out the project’s actions in an innovative, interdisciplinary, and multi-level way, so that all project outcomes will be co-produced and verified by indigenous leaders and key stakeholders. Methods that we intend to include in the project, but which will be defined together with the Yawanawa and Katukina peoples, are:

• Basic Information Collection: We will gather information that contributes to the development of the project, including: how the elders, women, young people, and adults understand traditional knowledge and how they engage in different processes and practices related to this knowledge, what their roles, contributions, and interests are, and how knowledge is created, shared, and with whom. We expect to involve a total of at least 150 participants in collecting this information. With this data, we will build a reliable information base to identify different interests and dynamics related to knowledge construction and indigenous education. This method involves in-depth interviews and seeks to collect information about the individual’s worldview and personal narrative as a way to understand a specific society and culture. However, it will also include the mapping of community and individual demographic attributes.
• Observation: Participant observation facilitates the analysis of how people engage, speak, and behave in specific contexts (Watson 2011).
• Knowledge: Sharing of stories of their own experiences; knowledge-sharing practices; descriptions of nature, land, biodiversity, environmental conditions, resource/nature values; expressions of epistemological and ontological boundaries; identification of symbols, metaphors, vocabulary used and employed in subsistence, (self) governance, and spiritual practices; expressions of judgment of the authority of traditional knowledge, legitimacy, respect; etc.
• Participatory Meetings: To advance the project’s objectives, we will organize different types of participatory meetings: workshops, knowledge exchanges, storytelling sessions, co-production of knowledge, among others. Together, these participatory meetings will serve as a basis for promoting and documenting the flow of valuing traditional knowledge, testing practices to solidify this knowledge among young people and women, and creating opportunities to strengthen the co-production of knowledge for the implementation of the SDGs.
• Analysis: Throughout the project, we will gather relevant archival material to identify the structures that form the architecture of traditional knowledge. These efforts will be directed towards organizing the information to build the methodologies of knowledge exchange practices and to produce school materials, as well as serving as a source for project knowledge management and lessons learned.
• Participatory Films: To disseminate Yawanawa and Katukina culture and give voice to the peoples of Rio Gregório, we will develop participatory films to engage these peoples in the co-construction of knowledge and in decision-making arenas relevant to the SDGs. The idea is to create accessible short films as a way to bring people together to explore issues, concerns, or simply to be creative and tell stories. It is, therefore, a processual method. This process can be very empowering, allowing a group or community to take their own actions to solve their own problems and also to communicate their needs and ideas to decision-makers and/or other groups and communities. As such, the participatory film is a method that can be a highly effective tool for engaging and mobilizing marginalized groups, helping them implement their own forms of sustainable development based on local needs.

The use of these methods will provide the necessary tools for the effective implementation of the project’s objectives, focusing on the characteristics of traditional knowledge creation, evolution, and dissemination, and how communities govern indigenous knowledge systems, with special attention to how dimensions and conditions of trust are visible in knowledge exchanges and co-production of knowledge. Several studies point to the importance of cultivating opportunities for co-production of knowledge between indigenous and non-indigenous people, suggesting that co-production of knowledge is possible and necessary but requires deliberate, reflective, and iterative processes (Tengo et al. 2017; Zanotti and Palomino-Schalscha 2016).

Phases, Actions and Results

Phase 1: Conception

1.1 Empowerment of 6 elder educators: In conjunction with leaders from both ethnicities, we will select 6 elders (3 from each ethnicity) to be the main educators and inspire the appreciation of the original language and traditional knowledge, thereby promoting empowerment. The goal is to create a space where the elderly can continuously discuss topics related to the dissemination and valorization of ancestral knowledge. This will promote autonomy of the elders and reduce the isolation of the elders.

1.2 Formation of 2 groups with indigenous individuals who are proficient in the language: In conjunction with indigenous leaders, we will form one group for each ethnic group with individuals who are proficient in the Pano language. The objective is to identify what has already been lost from the language and develop strategies for its recovery and education among the young and women. This will promote the rescue of the Pano language group while increasing knowledge sharing.

1.3 Formation of 2 groups exclusively for women to exchange ancestral feminine knowledge: In conjunction with female leaders, we will create 1 women’s group per ethnicity, with the participation of elders and young women, to promote the exchange and valorization of ancestral feminine knowledge. This will promote the empowerment of young women.

Phase 2: Formulation

2.1 Conducting 8 exchanges between villages: In conjunction with the implementation groups, 4 exchanges per year will be organized with the aim of creating didactic materials for traditional education. This will promote interethnic traditional knowledge and integration of traditional knowledge within the linguistic group.

2.2 Creation of multilingual educational materials describing native seeds, traditional planting practices, soil recovery, and the use and conservation of natural resources: From the interchanges between villages, we will create educational materials with a focus on the recovery of traditional land management and use, and the conservation of natural resources. This will promote the revival of traditional land use practices and the conservation of biodiversity and natural resources.

2.3 Conducting 8 workshops for the exchange of ancestral knowledge of native medicinal plants: In conjunction with the implementation groups, 4 workshops will be organized per year aimed at sharing medicinal knowledge between elders and youth, as well as compiling information that is currently scattered among both tribes. This will promote the rescuing of ancestral knowledge about medicinal plants and the integration of medicinal knowledge with the conservation of medicinal plants.

2.4 Creation of a multilingual catalog with identification and description of the use of medicinal plants: From the workshops on medicinal plants, we will create a catalog with identification, illustrations, and uses of native plants with the aim of preserving traditional knowledge for future generations. Photographic and audiovisual records will be required, along with the assistance of an ethnobotanical expert. This will promote the maintenance of traditional knowledge for future generations and the integration of interethnic knowledge.

2.5 Organization of 24 rounds of sharing indigenous stories and myths: In conjunction with the implementation groups, we will conduct one round per month of sharing stories and myths between elders and youth. This will promote the strengthening of culture aspects and the empowerment of the indigenous lineage.

2.6 Organization of 8 workshops focusing on medicinal plants for healing women’s health issues: In conjunction with the women’s groups, 4 workshops will be organized each year aimed at sharing medicinal knowledge between elder women and young women, as well as compiling information that is currently scattered in both tribes. This will promote the rescue of ancestral feminine knowledge and the integration of feminine medicinal knowledge.

Phase 3: Consolidation

3.1. Conducting 4 trainings in traditional ecological knowledge: In collaboration with the implementation groups, we will carry out 4 trainings for young adults in traditional ecological knowledge, traditional planting and harvesting techniques, agroecology, and more. This will result in a minimum of 20 young adults (10 from each tribe) trained in traditional ecological techniques and will promote the recovery of traditional ecological practices.

3.2. Conducting 8 interethnic spiritual experiences: Together with the implementation groups, 4 interethnic spiritual experiences will be organized by year. These experiences will only include indigenous individuals and will aim to recover prayers and rituals that have been lost over time. This will result in the recovery of traditional spiritual knowledge.

3.3. Establishment of 2 traditional fixed schools and one mobile school: The project will establish two traditional fixed schools and one mobile school. In addition to utilizing existing schools as part of non-indigenous education to reinforce traditional knowledge, the project will create traditional schools specifically for the purpose of reviving ancestral teaching practices. The mobile school will support the fixed schools and enable the participation of more youth and children. This will promote the enhancement of current education, the revival of traditional teaching, the appreciation of ancestral educational practices, the dissemination of traditional knowledge while strengthening of culture.

3.4 Conducting 8 workshops and 16 practical classes to recover traditional knowledge with teachers and students: After defining teaching methods and practical lessons in collaboration with the elderly and teachers, we will conduct workshops to test the methods with students (4 per year) and practical classes (8 per year) to assess the performance and practicality of the developed methods. This will promote the enhancement of traditional teaching methods, the strengthening of ancestral teaching practices and the revival of young people’s interest in traditional culture.

3.5 Training of a minimum of 10 female teachers in traditional education: In collaboration with current teachers and elders, at least one woman from each village of both tribes will be trained as a teacher in traditional education of the Pano group. This will promote women’s empowerment while increasing in knowledge sharing.

3.6 Conducting 2 meetings (one per year) for the co-production of traditional and scientific knowledge with a focus on the implementation of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals): We will hold two meetings per year between indigenous and non-indigenous individuals to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and co-production of traditional and scientific wisdom that contribute to the implementation of the SDGs. These meetings will be determined in collaboration with the implementation groups, but the idea is to address expressions of significance related to development, poverty, sustainability, equality, perspectives on development and growth, local territorial management, knowledge systems, governance, land relationships, and visions for sustainable and equitable development. This will promote the co-production of knowledge, the integration of traditional and scientific knowledge and the formulation of practical ideas for the implementation of the SDGs.

Phase 4: Dissemination

4.1 Creation of participatory films about the history and culture of the Yawanawa and Katukina peoples: The project will involve a cinematographer who already works with the people of Rio Gregório to capture the main actions, stories, meetings, and other symbolic moments in order to create a documentary that portrays the project’s activities and focuses on the appreciation of the history and culture of the Yawanawa and Katukina peoples. This will result in participatory films for the dissemination of project actions, the dissemination of the culture and history of the peoples of the Gregório River.

4.2 Compilation of the results from the co-production of knowledge meetings into a booklet: In order to influence other communities that are also the focus of the project (e.g., scientific and political communities), we will create a booklet with the outcomes of the two co-production of knowledge meetings to impact issues of governance and the implementation of the SDGs. This will result in the dissemination of traditional and scientific knowledge with a focus on improving the implementation of the SDGs, sharing of project results, collaboration with different communities, and integration of traditional knowledge for enhanced implementation of the SDGs.

4.3 Dissemination of the results from the co-production of knowledge meetings in political and scientific arenas (at state and national levels) and on social media platforms (e.g., Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform): In order to integrate the outcomes of the co-production of knowledge meetings into other arenas that will benefit from these results, we will organize a workshop at the end of the project that brings together traditional, scientific, and political communities. This dissemination will also be carried out on relevant social media platforms related to the discussed topics. This will result in the dissemination of traditional and scientific knowledge with a focus on enhancing the implementation of the SDGs, sharing of project results, collaboration with diverse communities and integration of traditional knowledge for improved SDG implementation.