XIMAN POTEH: LIGHTING PATHS FOR INDIGENOUS FUTURISM IN BRAZILIAN LITERATURE

Abstract

This article presents a brief analysis of the first tale of the book Ximan Poteh: tales of the future Puris, based on the concept of Indigenous Futurism. The short story chosen for analysis is entitled “The canoe, the chief and his main enemy”. It is a bibliographical and interpretative study, of a qualitative nature. The concept of Indigenous Futurism was conceived by the Anishinaabe Nation researcher, Grace Dillon, in order to reflect on indigenous protagonism in the future and, through literature and other arts, to (re)imagine futures in which the indigenous people is not only a protagonist, but also that their culture, cosmovision and history are respected and valued. The analysis made it possible to highlight, in this tale, two broader characteristics of Indigenous Futurism, namely: a) the plurality of subjects and their specific demands; b) cyclical/non-linear temporality. These two broader characteristics encompass other more specific ones, such as ancestry and spirituality, indigenous cosmovision and cosmology, graphics and native language, technology etc. Although Indigenous Futurism is a fairly recent approach that requires further investigation, this study allowed us to verify how the characteristics highlighted point to the end of whiteness as a structure of domination and how Indigenous Futurism is a way to confront the colonial narratives of primitivism and disappearance of the original people, denying the point of view of a single history.