Paper short abstract:

This paper considers how the successful implementation of "differentiated Indigenous schools" in Brazil is based in a paradoxical valuation of social mobility as well as territorialized cultural practices, and how this influences revitalization efforts.

Paper long abstract:

The establishment of 'specialized Indigenous schools', located in demarcated Indigenous territories, has been a cornerstone of language and cultural revitalization efforts in Brazil, where recognition of educational, linguistic, and territorial rights have been directly linked, both legally and discursively. In the Northwest Amazon, where such schools have been functioning for nearly 20 years, they are considered a success story of Indigenous activism; efforts to expand them into higher levels of education, including the proposed creation of an "Indigenous university" are ongoing. In this paper, I will examine the implications of this strategy for language and cultural preservation. In particular, I will consider how these schools are situated within discourses about social mobility and access to opportunity, while simultaneously emphasizing their importance for preventing the "rural exodus" of Indigenous people. In addition to the implications of these contradictory forces for students in these schools, I will discuss how they influence efforts to establish school-based Indigenous language initiatives in urban areas.