Gestão do patrimônio e povos indígenas: a necessidade de uma abordagem inclusiva e intercultural.

Abstract

Heritage management mechanisms in countries formerly under Western rule still tend to follow approaches which ignore the values that Indigenous peoples ascribe to archaeological objects and sites in their ancestral territories. In addition, these mechanisms function as a tool to disengage communities from participating in the process of protecting and managing a heritage they claim their own, thus disrespecting their human and collective rights. Based on the case of the Camëntsá people, I point out some of the reasons for this detachment and suggest that a collaborative and intercultural approach to heritage management is more appropriate, since it is based on an inclusive understanding of heritage and recognizes that not only is this used as a form of resistance, but it is also subject to the interpretation of different groups. In the specific case of archaeology, it is necessary to expand the horizons of the discipline by recognizing the relationship of Indigenous peoples with the material past, and working in a way in which researchers, Indigenous communities and government institutions truly collaborate.