[Talk] Decolonizing the Past, Empowering the Future: Communities and Archaeological Practice in the Philippines

Readers may be interested in this talk by Dr. Stephen Acabado happening later today (1 Nov, 1600 UK time).

National historical narratives generally leave out local histories of groups who are on the peripheries of mainstream society. This is accentuated in colonized settings where colonial powers promote the narratives of dominant cultures, which soon become national meta-narratives. In the case of the Philippines, peoples who were on the fringe.s of colonialism were described as remnants of the past, and thus, exoticizing their cultures. These descriptions became the basis of their identity. We argue that to empower marginalized peoples, vigorous community engagement can and will provide venues for learning and unlearning histories. In this paper, we present how recent archaeological data force the rethinking of history and subsequently empowering descendant communities to take control of their history and heritage. We take the position that simply engaging indigenous stakeholder as contributors to research is inadequate. Rather, we should strive to develop partnerships, which means that stakeholders are co-developers or co-investigators of research projects.

To access the talk, use this Microsoft Teams link here.