ABSTRACT

Ongoing discussions about the problems of white supremacy and colonialism in archaeology are useful but have not, thus far, fully considered the exacerbated effects of these issues on small islands. In this opinion piece, we, two white women academics from the Global North with extensive experience working in the Dutch Caribbean and the Hawaiian Islands, observe these exacerbated effects in governance, academic hegemony, and community relations, and call for more consideration of the effects of our discipline in small island contexts. Ultimately, in line with the observations of local, descendant, and Indigenous scholars, we argue that archaeologists must invest in de-colonial, antiracist, and social justice efforts in heritage fields and industries by foregrounding the wishes and needs of island communities. This may involve modifying or altogether abandoning current motivations and practices to build a discipline that can be a positive rather than a negative in island worlds.

摘要

考古学中关于白人至上和殖民主义问题的持续讨论是有用的，但迄今为止尚未充分考虑到这些问题对小岛屿的加剧影响。在这篇评论文章中，我们，两位来自北半球的白人女性学者，在荷兰加勒比海和夏威夷群岛拥有丰富的工作经验，观察到这些对治理、学术霸权和社区关系的加剧影响，并呼吁更多地考虑这些影响我们在小岛屿环境中的纪律。最终，根据当地、后裔和原住民学者的观察，我们认为考古学家必须通过突出岛屿社区的愿望和需求，在遗产领域和产业中投资于去殖民、反种族主义和社会正义的努力。这可能涉及修改或完全放弃当前的动机和做法，以建立对岛屿世界有利而不是不利的纪律。