Archaeology and social justice in island worlds

ABSTRACT

Ongoing discussions about the problems of white supremacy and colonialism in archaeology are useful but have not, thus far, fully considered the exacerbated effects of these issues on small islands. In this opinion piece, we, two white women academics from the Global North with extensive experience working in the Dutch Caribbean and the Hawaiian Islands, observe these exacerbated effects in governance, academic hegemony, and community relations, and call for more consideration of the effects of our discipline in small island contexts. Ultimately, in line with the observations of local, descendant, and Indigenous scholars, we argue that archaeologists must invest in de-colonial, antiracist, and social justice efforts in heritage fields and industries by foregrounding the wishes and needs of island communities. This may involve modifying or altogether abandoning current motivations and practices to build a discipline that can be a positive rather than a negative in island worlds.

KEYWORDS:

• Social justice
• island archaeology
• neo-colonialism
• ethical practice
• community consultation
• extractive capitalism

Acknowledgments

The authors contacted many people for advice, and are extremely grateful to have received so many helpful and sincere responses. These generous people included: Rose Mary Allen, Luc Alofs, Xiomara Balentina, Taylor Brown, Fredrico Cachola, Andreana Cunningham, Kenneth Cuvalay, Jason Ford, Samara Gonçalves de Albuquerque, marjolijn kok, Durwin Lynch, Kepā Maly, Annina van Neel, Matthew Reilly, Derrick Simmons, and Miriam Stark. Thanks also to Heather Freund, Hannah Hjorth, Marie Keulen, Gabriëlle La Croix, Natália da Silva Perez, and Gunvor Simonsen for reading an earlier draft of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article is part of the In the Same Sea project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. ERC-2019-COG 863671).

Notes on contributors

Felicia Fricke

Felicia Fricke is an archaeologist, osteologist, and (oral) historian who has been studying inequality and colonialism in Europe and the Americas for over a decade. In 2019 she received her doctorate in the interdisciplinary study of enslaved lifeways in the Dutch Caribbean from the University of Kent. She has several years of experience in archaeological fieldwork in the commercial and research sectors, and has published a number of peer reviewed articles and book chapters in English, Dutch, and Papiamentu, as well as a monograph based on her PhD thesis. Between 2019 and 2022, she spearheaded the working group that developed the new IACA Code of Ethics. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Caribbean history project IN THE SAME SEA at the University of Copenhagen.

Rachel Hoerman

Rachel Hoerman is an Oceanic rock art researcher, university lecturer, heritage policy advocate, and principal at a Native-owned cultural resources management firm in the Hawaiian Islands with 15 years of academic and private heritage sector experience throughout Oceania. She is a member of the Kali’uokapa’akai Collective’s ‘Aha Kuapapa (Steering Committee) and Bradshaw Foundation-Getty Conservation Institute Rock Art Network. Her advocacy and research interests include communities-based approaches to solving heritage problems and needs, supporting Native/Indigenous/local de and post-colonial values and frameworks, and meaningfuly allyship, as well as the preservation and study of Oceanic rock art within storied biocultural landscapes, and communities-based technological approaches to digital/3-D heritage preservation.