BACKGROUND:
Indigenous intellectuals from different countries have increasingly contributed to knowledge production and entered academic institutions, particularly in Public Health. In Brazil, however, Indigenous peoples continue to face challenges in accessing and remaining in academia due to structural barriers, especially at the postgraduate level. Although affirmative action policies implemented since 2012 have expanded Indigenous access to undergraduate education, progress in postgraduate programs has been slow and misaligned with the needs of Indigenous students.

METHODS:
This presentation offers a critical reflection grounded in the author’s lived experiences as an Indigenous researcher from the Pataxó people, combined with a review of scientific literature in the Brazilian context. The analysis focuses on barriers to access and permanence in higher education and postgraduate studies, with particular attention to structural racism.

RESULTS:
The findings highlight unequal educational trajectories shaping Indigenous students’ lives, intensified by everyday experiences of racism within academic institutions. Dominant modes of knowledge production have historically marginalized Indigenous peoples. Within this context, Indigenous researchers continue to struggle to claim space in scientific knowledge production, while confronting academic tutelage and challenges in establishing ethical and dialogical relationships capable of promoting structural change.

CONCLUSIONS:
Racism and the exclusion of Indigenous peoples—as both students and faculty—remain embedded in Brazilian academic institutions, particularly in Public Health. Indigenous knowledge continues to be appropriated by researchers and institutions, reproducing colonial power asymmetries that exclude Indigenous researchers from knowledge production and directly affect the development of public health policies targeting Indigenous populations in Brazil.