Towards Sustainable Community Heritage Management and the Role of Archaeology: A Case Study from Western Australia

This paper explores the challenges and positive outcomes of collaborative heritage management programs that maintain a focus on customary protocols and community priorities. A holistic approach to cultural heritage management has developed over time in the Esperance region of Western Australia, which situates the local Traditional Owner community at the center of heritage management. The established structure fosters a community-based approach to project development and implementation and has led to the successful completion of a number of large-scale conservation and management projects within a wide-ranging research and community development program. In establishing this structure, the program provides a mechanism for engagement and collaboration with a range of external academic and government programs, while maintaining control in how these external parties operate and with an emphasis on dissolving mainstream power relations. We examine the successes and ongoing challenges in a critical reflection of this program and its implications for the broader field of community-based cultural heritage management. The paper reviews the program with specific reference to the role of archaeology, including the demand by communities and Traditional Owners for participatory, community-oriented archaeologists.