Indigenous Archaeology as Decolonizing Practice

Archaeology is a product of and remains a tool for settler colonialism.

“Archaeology is a product of and remains a tool for settler colonialism, often oppressing both people of the past and people in the present, especially Indigenous People, Black People, People of Colour, and LGBTQ2S+ community members.”

Many archaeologists are applying different ways of knowing to interpret the past, such as Indigenous knowledge systems, Black feminist theory, and Queer theory.

“Many archaeologists are also applying different ways of knowing to interpret the past, such as Indigenous knowledge systems (Atalay 2006(Atalay , 2008)), Black feminist theory (Battle-Baptiste 2011), and Queer theory (Walley 2019).”

The project to undo ingrained practices of systemic antiblack racism in archaeology rests on the work of Indigenous scholars and their accomplices who began and continue to fight against injustice within North American archaeology.

“In gathering at this figurative table, we recognized that the project to undo ingrained practices of systemic antiblack racism rests on the work of Indigenous scholars and their accomplices, who began and continue to fight against injustice within North American archaeology”

The literature on decolonization provides some useful starting points, but clear guidance is often abstract and theoretical, with only a few direct actionable items commensurate with the direct authority that archaeological curation repositories within an academic setting can enact.

“Although the literature on decolonization (e.g., Atalay 2006;Bryant et al. 2017;Lonetree 2012;Schneider and Hayes 2020) certainly provides some useful starting points for thinking about such issues, clear guidance is often in the abstract and theoretical, with only a few direct actionable items (e.g., land return) that are commensurate with the direct authority that archaeological curation reposi”

Until very recently, non-Indigenous scholars often considered Indigenous peoples objects of study, and archaeological practices typically prevented descendant communities from ownership of their past and from knowledge making about their ancestors.

“Until very recently, non-Indigenous scholars often considered Indigenous peoples objects of study, and archaeological practices typically prevented descendant communities from ownership of their past, and from knowledge making about their ancestors (Atalay 2006;Pokotylo and Mason 2010).”