ABSTRACT
Developing cooperative, respectful relationships with local communities has been an increasingly important goal within the realm of archaeological resource management for the past two decades. Increasingly, descendant groups and local communities are insisting that they have a right to participate in the process for determining the disposition and management of archaeological and other cultural resources. All international archaeological projects in Bolivia require the procurement of an excavation permit following the presentation of a written proposal for subsequent approval by the National Secretariat of Culture and the National Institute of Culture in the capital city of La Paz. Between 1982 and 1989, the National Institute of Archaeology began new strategies in research and conservation, as well as establishing a closer contact with native communities. The implementation of the new policy began with the materials obtained through the projects of underwater archaeology around the Island of the Sun, where a local museum and repository was created and established.
