Mbyá Guaraní Cosmopraxis and the Experience of Disability: Memories of a Spiritual Dialogue in Misiones, Argentina
摘要
This chapter describes and analyzes the dialogue on disability within an Aty, or Mbyá Guaraní Indigenous assembly, between the authors, the community, and its authorities. The chapter begins by explaining the current situation of the Guaraní people in Argentina about intercultural education and other inclusion policies, as well as the most relevant aspects of their cosmogony. The chapter then introduces the Opygua, or Guaraní healer (shaman), who engages the researchers in a dialogue about disability. The Opygua is also a blind person. The chapter focuses on this speech in the Mbyá Guaraní language, which is transcribed orally and then translated. It concludes concerning the value of the Opygua’s words, Guaraní co-praxis, and the dialogue of knowledge (Readers unfamiliar with Indigenous epistemologies or spiritual ontologies may benefit from exploring foundational texts in decolonial studies, relational ontologies, and Indigenous perspectives on health and disability. A list of suggested readings can be found at the end of the book or in the introductory chapter).