Indigenous Stewardship of Cultural Landscapes and Heritage

Indigenous approaches in archaeology vary significantly across the globe. While many scholars have rightfully highlighted the tensions between the archaeological community and Indigenous peoples, constructive relationships continue to develop in the field of Indigenous Archaeology. Given these changes, there is a growing expectation that archaeologists conduct meaningful collaboration with Indigenous stakeholders beyond legally mandated consultation to integrate Indigenous worldviews and epistemologies into archaeological practice. While collaboration may take several forms, less attention has been given to how Indigenous peoples and Tribes incorporate archaeological data and research to serve their communities and agendas beyond academic and cultural resource management interests.

This special issue highlights how Indigenous peoples engage with their cultural heritage through archaeology, heritage management, ethnography, ethnohistory, and environmental science. As Indigenous communities continue to practice and contribute to archaeology, the discipline has benefited from innovative approaches in field methods, laboratory methods, and interpretative frameworks. While non-Indigenous archaeologists have historically conceived of archaeological data and cultural resources as separate from contemporary environmental resources, such as animals, plants, and broader landscapes, these perspectives are unaligned with many Indigenous ontologies. Instead, Indigenous peoples often recognize that archaeological sites represent just one element that should be considered to encompass broader cultural landscapes and heritage resources through time.

Through this collection of studies, we seek to highlight these innovations that have relevance for understanding cultural landscapes and heritage resources holistically and can serve as models for Indigenous and non-Indigenous archaeologists across the globe. Our collection of original research articles, systematic reviews, and perspective articles highlights Indigenous engagement with archaeology and other sciences that link historical, long-term evaluations of the interactions and relationships of Indigenous peoples and the environment.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Indigenous Archaeology, Environmental Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Cultural Properties, Resource Management

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.