Chapter 4: Indigenous Contributions to Psychological Reflections and Practices: A Case Study in the Context of an Academic Network

The path to construct collaborative knowledge and practices in the psychological field is not straightforward or transparent. Even so, knowledge generated millennia ago by indigenous and traditional peoples and academic knowledge can enter into a dialogue in the direction of psychological innovation. In the history of psychology, it is possible to see that psychological notions and practices have excluded both the physical presence and indigenous thinking, with cultural reflections and practices that are consistent with the way of life of a very restricted group of people predominating in studies and the elaboration of theories and systems.

The chapter starts with a reflection on paradigmatic issues in the field of Developmental Psychology and presents an epistemological reflection by an indigenous leader in his dialogue at the House of Indigenous Cultures at the Institute of Psychology of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Over the 12 years of the Indigenous Support Network (ISN) at the Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, Brazil, several indigenous peoples and communities have visited the University of São Paulo and/or were visited in their own territories. Reflection on these experiences points to the possibility of developing a proper language to describe, analyze and discuss the series of events in the temporality and territoriality of the meetings. Finally, a discussion is proposed on possible ways of continuing reflective and practical collaborations in the construction of a psychology committed to building plural spaces for sharing experiences, knowledge and practices with respect for the coexistence of all forms of life.