Beyond Colonialism: The Winding Confluence between the Goeldi Museum and the Mebengokre

The article analyzes the changes in the relationship between the Goeldi Museum and the Mebengokre (Amazonian people better known as Kayapo), in a long-term perspective. Three moments of this relationship are detailed: the transition from the 19th to the 20th century, when religious institutions were intermediaries between the indigenous people and the Brazilian national society; the 1930s, when new migratory movements to the Amazon region threatened the physical and territorial integrity of this people; and the 1980s-1990s, when a socio-environmental development model emerged that recognized the role of indigenous people in the Amazon. The article concludes by stressing the importance of collaborative research and participatory museology in the 21st century, both for its scientific qualification and for the appreciation of indigenous knowledge with profound political, social and environmental repercussions.