The Indigenisation of Australian Archaeology

A dramatic increase in the involvement of Indigenous Australians in archaeology has led to a crossroad for the discipline in Australia. This Indigenisation of Australian archaeology is prompting new conceptual approaches and archaeological projects more clearly aimed at addressing the needs of Indigenous communities. Three projects that are the focus of our current integrated research programme are outlined in this paper: (1) developing an Indigenist archaeology which is shaped by Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies and axiologies, based on case studies with six Indigenous communities; (2) braiding Indigenous and Western knowledge to interpret deep time archaeological data, through knowledge exchange workshops; and 3) exploring how archaeology can help to build Indigenous cultural knowledge and heritage values into sustainable wealth creation for communities in remote areas. Indigenisation, although potentially unsettling for established archaeological theory and practice, paves a path forward for a richer, more integrated and engaged archaeology.