Políticas Linguísticas para Línguas Indígenas: Normas, Leis e Práticas em Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract

The right to use their own languages is an integral part of guaranteeing the autonomy of the Indigenous peoples of Brazil as well as the ability to fully exercise their citizenship. Action must be taken by institutions, public authorities, and society if Indigenous people are to maintain the power of choice in issues related to their languages, particularly when it comes to providing translation and interpretation services. Intending to outline the trajectory of language policy in Brazil and Mato Grosso do Sul, we conducted a survey of legal norms at the federal and state levels starting from the promulgation of Brazil’s Federal Constitution of 1988 to June 2022. Thus, the aim was to evaluate the stipulations and gaps in current legislation. To do this, we used the search engine feature of the Brazilian federal government’s national legal order to find the relevant federal legislation and the search engine feature of the state legal order of Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil) through the official site for the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso do Sul. The state of Mato Grosso do Sul was selected for analysis due to its status as the state with the second largest Indigenous population in Brazil, in addition to having at least two municipalities with Indigenous languages as coofficial, Tacuru (MS) with the Guarani language and Miranda (MS) with the Terena language, allowing for an analysis at the municipal level. This research project also involved outlining the course of language policies carried out through actions and projects developed by individuals, institutions, and communities. This paper constitutes a documentary analysis as it includes news publications, reports, censuses, documentaries, and online lectures, along with articles, books, and legal documentation. The works of Calvet (2007), Spolsky (2012), Jernudd and Nekvapil (2012), among others, were consulted as theoretical references. Broadly speaking, the data demonstrated the implementation of language policies that value the characteristics specific to Indigenous peoples and that aim to maintain their linguistic diversity. However, among the topics addressed in legislation, issues related to education stood out on both the federal level (at more than 92% of the laws analyzed) and on the state level (at 80%), while the second most- addressed topic, “Preservation and promotion”, appeared in less than 31% of federal laws, and less than 27% of state laws. Consequently, there is a demonstrated need for public policy in other areas. Indeed, if the intent is to revitalize and strengthen Indigenous languages, their position as languages for daily use must be assured in all areas of public life, including commerce, media, technology, and healthcare, as well as education.