Community-Based Heritage in Africa ─ Unveiling Local Research and Development Initiatives

Community-based Heritage in Africa considers new departures in the history of African community-based research through an examination of the Katuruka heritage initiative undertaken in the Kagera Region, which runs from the Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi borders to the southwestern shore of Lake Victoria. This collaborative project transcended local kin relations to engage those who identified with its goals: a wide range of participants offered their knowledge, gathered construction materials, promoted the project of the public or actively performed heritage work such as shrine reconstruction. Schmidt presents this unique effort at heritage research and revitalization as a rare instance participatory community research and preservation, drawing on his own personal and academic experience of the region to inform his ethnographic observations. Through this blend of personalized narrative and analytical examination, this book provides fresh insights into African archaeology and heritage studies.

Peter R. Schmidt is Professor of Anthropology and African Studies at the University of Florida, USA, as well as Extraordinary Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.