ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that, considering the political history of the continent, and more specifically South Africa, it is important that heritage managers consider the identity of Indigenous people. It also argues that there are three categories of people whom should be considered as forming local communities. First, people who claim direct descent from the Bushmen; second, Africans who have "taken" ownership of sites linked to Bushmen and consider them significant to their spiritual realm; and third, people of Western and Bantu origin who simply have an interest in a given site near their place of residence or at any other location but attach to it no spiritual significance. Regardless of the identity of Indigenous people, one fact remains: identity is undoubtedly political – and so is the definition of who is Indigenous in South Africa. Indigenous archaeology should represent a significant shift in how communities are involved in the identification, research and management of heritage management.
