Challenges for Pre-Colonial Archaeological Site Management in Rwanda

Giblin, John; Humphris, Jane; Mugabowagahunde, Maurice; Ntagwabira, André

doi:10.1179/175355211x13179154166079

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…This gap has led to a conflictual relationship between local residents and heritage: for example, some area farmers sought to destroy signage marking the district’s cultural trails in 2020, fearing that the development of these trails would threaten their land ownership. 20 Such tensions are heightened by Rwanda’s dense population and land scarcity, which puts intense pressures on the survival of heritage resources as well as on heritage development itself (see also Giblin et al, 2011). The situation in Nyanza District is not unlike other contexts of community alienation from heritage, where the “lack of community engagement in heritage management and the interventionism of public authorities generally carry the seeds of conflicts” (Thiaw and Ly, 2020: 73).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A simultaneous challenge for heritage management in Africa is the pursuit of economic development in this rapidly growing and urbanizing region (Baillie and Sørensen, 2021a; Giblin et al, 2011; Lane, 2011). Some nations have found heritage development, especially using heritage resources for tourism, to be a promising route (Makuvaza, 2014).…”

Section: Heritage Decolonization and Development In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of this heritage is intangible; one example is centuries of oral histories (Byanafashe and Rutayisire, 2016: 8–13; Giblin, 2018), such as imivugo poems transmitted to successive generations by highly valued abasizi poets. In terms of tangible heritage, two aspects are better-studied academically than others in Rwanda: natural heritage and Genocide memorialization (Giblin et al, 2011: 176). The national parks, with their famed mountain gorillas, take pride of place in the government’s tourism strategy, while the Genocide memorials are both well-known and well-studied.…”

Section: Rwanda’s Heritage Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rwandan solutions to Rwandan problems: Heritage decolonization and community engagement in Nyanza District, Rwanda

Bolin

Nkusi²

2021

Journal of Social Archaeology

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Highlighting the rural district of Nyanza in Rwanda, this article examines community relations to heritage resources. It investigates the possibilities for more ethical, engaged models of heritage management which can better deliver on agendas of decolonization and development. Our research finds that Nyanza’s heritage stakeholders highly value heritage’s social and economic roles, but communities are also significantly alienated from heritage resources. In seeking to bridge this gap, heritage professionals utilize a discourse of technocratic improvement, but community leaders emphasize ideas of ownership, drawing on higher state-level discourses of self-reliance and “homegrown solutions.” They mobilize the state’s own attempts to filter developing, decolonizing initiatives through Rwandan frameworks to advocate for communities’ right to participate in heritage. This local agency offers a roadmap for utilizing favorable aspects of existing governance to push heritage management toward community engagement and decolonization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Heritage Decolonization and Development In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rwanda’s Heritage Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rwandan solutions to Rwandan problems: Heritage decolonization and community engagement in Nyanza District, Rwanda

Bolin

Nkusi²

2021

Journal of Social Archaeology

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“…Precolonial: this type originating prior to European contact relates exclusively to indigenous people and hominins. For example, the Verdun stone walled remains in Verdun, Messina District of Limpopo, and the Sterkfontein cave hominin sites, respectively.The decision to designate all heritage originating before the onset of colonial influence as “precolonial” was an obvious one, primarily because this nomenclature is widely adopted in academic discourse (Alexandrino Ocaña, 2023; Giblin et al, 2011; Mazrui, 1983; Murombedzi, 2003). 2.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The decision to designate all heritage originating before the onset of colonial influence as “precolonial” was an obvious one, primarily because this nomenclature is widely adopted in academic discourse (Alexandrino Ocaña, 2023; Giblin et al, 2011; Mazrui, 1983; Murombedzi, 2003).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decolonising archaeology in South Africa: two decades after the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999

P Reddy,

Russell

2024

Journal of Social Archaeology

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Twenty-four years ago, the National Heritage Resources Act, No. 25 of 1999 (NHRA) was enacted in South Africa. This was a moment of change, when the heritage of those marginalised during the colonial and Apartheid eras would finally be given its rightful place on the national heritage list. There was a sense of optimism amongst politicians that the African past was finally to be recognised in an inclusive and representative future. This was echoed in archaeology, given its central role in uncovering and telling the story of precolonial South Africa. The discipline slowly opened its doors to academics of all ethnic groups and new perspectives were identified. But an examination of the practical consequences and impact of this progressive legislation for transforming officially declared heritage in the past 24 years shows surprisingly little change in the overall body of recognized, listed heritage. Recent studies of transformation in South African archaeology have focussed on institutional transformation; possible transformation of the types and frequency of sites declared as national and provincial heritage sites has not yet been examined. It is this issue which our paper addresses. The paper presents analysis that relies on the South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS) database covering the period 1936 to mid-2022. Whilst sites associated with European colonialism still predominate, there has been a change in the frequency of types of heritage declared since 1999, with an increase in sites associated with the Black liberation struggle. Yet the list remains very unbalanced, with only a single heritage site connected to the precolonial past of Black South Africans having been declared as a national heritage site since 1999. We discuss and classify the types of heritage declared since 1999 and suggest reasons for the distortion.

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A Reconsideration of Rwandan Archaeological Ceramics and their Political Significance in a Post-Genocide Era

Giblin

2013

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Challenges for Pre-Colonial Archaeological Site Management in Rwanda

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

Rwandan solutions to Rwandan problems: Heritage decolonization and community engagement in Nyanza District, Rwanda

Rwandan solutions to Rwandan problems: Heritage decolonization and community engagement in Nyanza District, Rwanda

Decolonising archaeology in South Africa: two decades after the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999

A Reconsideration of Rwandan Archaeological Ceramics and their Political Significance in a Post-Genocide Era

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