SPORT, MEMORY AND CULTURE:

AN EXPERIENCE REPORT ON THE XERENTE INDIGENOUS GAMES

Abstract

This experience report describes the organization and execution of the first edition of the Xerente People’s Traditional Indigenous Games (JIX), held from July 14 to 16, 2023, in the Salto Kripre Village, located in the municipality of Tocantínia, Tocantins, Brazil. This initiative emerged from our purpose, as an Indigenous researcher in partnership with the community’s Sports Directorate, to value and revitalize traditional Indigenous bodily practices. The event featured four main modalities (Archery, Log Race, Tug-of-war, and 4x100m Relay Race) and brought together different generations of the village in moments of interaction, celebration, and learning. The methodology adopted was based on autobiographical narrative, recognizing lived experience as a legitimate source of knowledge production and cultural resistance. The results highlight the role of traditional games as instruments for strengthening identity, promoting intercultural education, and preserving ancestral knowledge, thereby contributing to the recognition of Indigenous bodily practices within the field of Physical Education.