ABSTRACT
This chapter is unabashedly polemical. It seeks to jolt archaeologists in New Zealand, and elsewhere, from their overreliance on statutory protection—protection that is failing to halt the rapidly increasing destruction of archaeological heritage. It argues that if archaeologists wish to preserve archaeological places for future research, they will have to form broader political coalitions, particularly with Maori. The argument presented is utilitarian, in that if archaeologists wish to gain the sorts of outcomes they want they will need to work on a broader political front. That is not to deny that there are many other good reasons why archaeologists should seek to ally themselves with Maori, or that the archaeological cultural heritage should be protected for many reasons beyond its usefulness for research. This approach was chosen to gain the attention of those archaeologists who remain sceptical of Indigenous Maori cultural claims for stewardship over the archaeological resource (see Allen and Phillips, this volume).
