Pedagogy of Reclamation: Indigenous Education, Territoriality, and the Critique of Epistemic Colonialism in Contemporary Literature

Abstract

The pedagogy of reclamation has emerged in contemporary literature as a counter-hegemonic educational paradigm grounded in the articulation of Indigenous education, territoriality, ancestral memory, and the critique of epistemic colonialism. This article presents a narrative and analytical-critical literature review aimed at examining how the pedagogy of reclamation has been conceptualized and mobilized in academic production between 2017 and 2025, particularly in the Brazilian and broader Latin American context. The analysis demonstrates that this pedagogy does not constitute a formalized or prescriptive educational model, but rather an emergent, situated, and relational practice forged within territorial struggles, political resistance, and epistemic re-existence processes led by Indigenous peoples and traditional communities. Across the reviewed studies, territory is understood as a physical, symbolic, and spiritual foundation of educational processes; ancestral memory provides epistemic legitimacy through oral traditions and the central role of elders; Indigenous education structures autonomous pedagogical methods rooted in community agency; and epistemic critique challenges the dominance of Eurocentric knowledge systems. Empirical experiences documented in Indigenous and quilombola contexts reveal how educational practices are directly intertwined with territorial reclamation processes, transforming schools and learning spaces into sites of political formation and resistance. The findings position the pedagogy of reclamation as a counter-hegemonic and decolonial educational framework that rejects tutelary and assimilationist logics, affirming community autonomy and epistemic plurality as fundamental principles for reimagining education in contexts marked by colonial violence and dispossession.