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Caring for history: Tiwi and archaeological narratives of Fort Dundas/Punata, Melville Island, Australia

2002; Routledge; Volume: 34; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0043824022000007107

1470-1375

Clayton Fredericksen,

Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation

Archaeologists working in post-colonial nations are still coming to terms with the contextuality of their data. This is accentuated for archaeologists researching sites of indigenous/colonizer contact. Here descendants of the indigenous people who confronted European colonizers or invaders often possess rich narratives of those events. These narratives form a culturescape, a physical place composed of localities where the events of the remembered past took place. Archaeologists working with indigenous communities are confronted with these culturescapes, which tell the community history of places and give them cultural significance. Archaeological investigation of the early colonial site of Fort Dundas/Punata in northern Australia has encountered a Tiwi culturescape that is entwined with archaeological narrative constructed over the past twenty-five years. The discursive nature of culturescape formation at Fort Dundas/Punata is examined in the context of the articulation between Tiwi and archaeological narratives of the past. Keywords: Indigenous And Archaeological NarrativesCulturescapesHistorical ArchaeologyFort Dundas/PUNATATiwi CommunityMelville Island