Minister of Indigenous Peoples will be the 1st indigenous person to receive the honor of a Brazilian University
The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, 51, will receive on Wednesday (28.MAI.2025) the title of Doctor Honoris Causa da (Rio de Janeiro State University).
This will be the first time a Brazilian university grants its most important academic distinction to an indigenous person. The ceremony will be held at the Odylo Costa Filho Theater, at Campus Maracanã, from 16h, with free admission to the public.
The UERJ University Council approved the granting of honor last year. He says acknowledges the minister’s resistance trajectory and commitment to social and environmental issues.
The report that based the decision states that the honor “Allows you to recognize indigenous knowledge as authentic and extremely important for the Brazilian people”.
The title is given by the institution to personalities with relevant contributions in areas such as society, science, culture, education or promotion of human rights.
In 2024, Guajajara the Champions of the Land Award, the main honor of (United Nations Program for the Environment), in the political leadership category.
Already in 2022, the magazine Time He elected the minister as one of the 100 most influential personalities in the world.
SONIA GUAJAJARA
Sônia Bone de Sousa Silva Santos was born on the Arariboia Indigenous Land in Bom Jesus das Selvas (MA) in 1974. He graduated from his term in the House of Representatives to take over the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples in 2023.
She has a degree in Letters and Nursing from Uema (State University of Maranhão). It has specialization in special education by the same institution.
