The Janus View: Reflections, Relationships and a Community-Based Approach to Indigenous Archaeology and Heritage in Northern Australia

Abstract

This paper describes archaeological work, begun in the 1980s, that resulted in the development of a community-based approach. The approach is underpinned by the relationships that developed between the researcher and the Cape York Indigenous community of Injinoo. It explores the researcher’s motivations in the development of the approach and the way that it emerged, over a period of years, from an on-going exchange of ideas and understanding. The paper presents the central desire to ‘dovetail’, wherever possible, the interests of both the researcher and the community and the principles. These include the importance of working with the appropriate community members and the necessity of operating within the languages and domains that are most potent for the community. These principles are aimed at empowering all research participants and in so doing, enriching our understanding of the past. This personal story is placed within the context of social movements that dominated the second half of the twentieth century and the way that these influenced theoretical developments within archaeology.