ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the stories in their own words of indigenous archaeologists from six continents, how they became archaeologists, and how their dual role affects their relationships with their community and their professional colleagues. Indigenous archaeologists have the awkward role of trying to serves as spokes people both for their home community and for the scientific community of archaeologists. The first component of the author's transformation into an Indigenous archaeologist was negotiating research projects with elders and community members with whom he would be working at Camp Coorong Race Relations Centre. He had continue working in a First Nations Centre supporting Indigenous students whilst undertaking a Ph.D. part-time; apply for a scholarship and undertake a Ph.D. full-time; or apply for a position as an archaeologist outside the university sector. During this process, he was building his confidence, increasing his understanding of the issues and complexities of working collaboratively with communities, university researchers, and government agencies, and learning from the challenges.
