MEANINGS ATTRIBUTED TO TENETEHARA INDIGENOUS HERITAGE AT THE BENEDITO LEITE PUBLIC LIBRARY

heritage education and cultural mediation in the exhibition “Indigenous Culture: one look and multiple readings”

Resumen

The article analyzes the exhibition “Indigenous Culture: one gaze and many readings”, held at the Benedito Leite Public Library in São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil, as a heritage education and cultural mediation practice aimed at valuing Tenetehara Indigenous heritage in the state. It adopts a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive approach. The empirical corpus comprised direct observation of the display and of interactions between the mediator and visitors, recorded in a field diary from April to May 2025, and a semi-structured interview with the cultural mediator conducted in May 2025. Data were processed through thematic analysis, allowing the identification of patterns related to audience reception, expographic resources, and strategies for cultural contextualization. Findings indicate that certain artifacts, especially the Kokrit-ho mask, concentrate attention and may trigger doubts about authenticity when presented without interpretive keys. Mediation works by turning estrangement into intercultural understanding, encouraging verification and inquiry and confronting narratives that render Indigenous presence in Maranhão invisible. The library, as a space of everyday circulation and spontaneous entry, was found to reduce symbolic barriers often associated with museums and to expand opportunities for enjoyment and learning, particularly when integrated into an ongoing circuit of exhibitions and educational actions with diverse collections, including activities for children. However, limitations persist, such as partial contextualization centered on rituals, weaknesses in the curatorial narrative of everyday life, and low Indigenous participation in expographic decisions, which may reinforce exoticizing views. The study concludes that public libraries can function as strategic arenas for heritage education about Indigenous peoples in Maranhão’s urban context, provided they combine qualified curatorship, accessible informational devices, and participatory, decolonial-oriented mediation to broaden recognition, belonging, and cultural justice.