Indigenous archaeology

Indigenous archaeology is a form of archaeology where indigenous peoples are involved in the care of, excavation and analysis of the cultural and bodily remains of peoples they consider their ancestors. It has been largely developed as a sub-discipline of archaeology since the late twentieth century, in response to some of the historical inequities in the practice, which developed largely as Europeans and Americans studying ancient cultures other than their own. Frequently archaeologists who were not members of the indigenous group being studied had led the excavation and care of remains and artifacts. They often ignored or did not consult the descendents or successors of the people being studied. The Indigenous desire to participate in the research and management of their heritage is related to activism of the 20th century, which arose in party due to the earlier "intellectual and spiritual colonization" by Europeans throughout the eighteenth to twentieth centuries.

As a relatively recently formed variety of archaeology, the "tenets and practices of Indigenous archaeology are currently being defined", and, as a sub-discipline, it is "unavoidably pluralistic, contingent, and emergent". Changes in practices under what is called indigenous archeology may range from Indigenous peoples being consulted about archaeological research and the terms of non-Native researchers, to instances of Native-designed and directed exploration of their "own" heritage.

The explosion of development-related cultural resources management (CRM) archaeology has prompted many Aboriginal organizations to get involved. They have worked to translate their cultural and archaeological values into heritage management plans that supplant the colonial status quo. Beyond field-based applications, Indigenous archaeology can empower Indigenous peoples as they work toward decolonization of society in general and of archaeology in particular. It has generated considerable controversy among scholars, some of whom support the concept in principle, but believe that incorporation of certain indigenous viewpoints has led to "major constraints on the research" of historical indigenous peoples.

Much of the tension between archeologists and First Nations in the Americas has arisen because the latter believe that "current heritage ethics and values almost exclusively reflect the values and beliefs of Euro-Americans". Mainstream archaeology has been complicit in variously objectifying, denigrating, and ignoring native people as it pursues the study of their past. Some scholars think that Native people have become estranged from their archaeological heritage because European-American scholars made an artificial distinction between prehistory and history that denies connection between contemporary cultures and archaeological ones. The social disruptions of Native American cultures due to losses from disease, warfare and encroachment of colonization resulted in many cases in the severing of their traditions of history keeping. By the time formal studies in archeology began, several centuries of Indigenous history had been dismissed and/or distorted by the new settlers, who became the colonial custodians.

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