Description:

Department of Anthropology, University of Florida

This talk explores how archaeological practice is changing in Africa by moving away from a colonial practice in which professional interest dominate to one in which anthropological principles of local engagement and learning are privileged. I examine how Katuruka village in NW Tanzania launched an initiative to study and document their oral traditions and history as well as sacred sites. At the community's invitation, I joined their project as a collaborator and advisor, a role that changed over time to becoming a co-producer and representative. Project design, goals, and objectives arose within the community. A mix of concerns over rapid change in heritage values and growing poverty allied with a desire to create economic opportunities for youth and village residents. The research component of the project soon unveiled important and unexpected insights into subaltern histories. As news spread about this initiative, other groups approached the village committee for guidance on how to enact their ideas for community research and revitalization. Archaeological inquiries arose as an integral part of community needs to enhance their interpretative treatments for public exhibits and heritage trails. At Kanazi Palace archaeological and ethnographic inquiries uncovered persistent and significant heritage values at odds with colonial historical representations about their decline. The two cases illustrate how archaeology when performed while listening to community representations and agendas may make contributions that illuminate short comings in earlier research as well as important insights into how subaltern accounts and identities may be unveiled through a union of local needs and anthropological perspectives.