Book Reviews Canadian Journal of Archaeology/Journal Canadien d’Archéologie 31: 274–277(2007) T he claim that archaeology is yet another colonialist imposition on Indigenous peoples is one that archaeologists find disturbing, but have often dismissed simply as postcolonial rhetoric. Yet the question of whether there is a basis for the complaint is well worth pursuing, especially in the context of Anthropology’s relationship with non-Western societies, for it can provide us with a better understanding of how and why the discipline itself has changed over time. This is the focus of Ian McNiven and Lynette Russell’s care- fully researched and engaging history of the relationship between Indigenous peoples and archaeologists (and their ilk) in Australia. This volume offers a detailed review and contextualization of the not-unre- lated histories of colonialism and anthro- pology as both evolved over the course of the last 400-plus years. Although the focus is on Aboriginal Australians, the authors rightly frame their discus- sion within a much broader scope that includes ancient Greek philosophers grappling with the “Other,” attempts by Enlightenment and later scholars to make sense of increasing knowledge of the great diversity of humankind, and the emergence of developmental stages of Anthropology, with their own unique conceptualizations of “hunter-gather- ers.” Geographically, too, the authors cut a wide swath but pay particularly close attention to intellectual and political developments in Canada and the United States since the 18 th century. The impact of colonialism on Indig- enous populations is remarkably similar whether one is referring to North Amer- ica, Africa, Australia, or other appropri- ated regions, especially in terms of their disenfranchisement. Within the more specific setting of cultural heritage, the authors note that this impact has manifested itself in two ways. The first is the disassociation of people from their heritage, either by the attribution of sites and artifacts to other populations (as exemplified in North America by the Moundbuilder myths of the 19 th century) or the separation of living peoples from their ancestors “by making their past an archaeological past” (p. 7). The second impact is through the appropriation and reformulation of Indigenous histories via the lens of historical and archaeo- logical synthesis. These impacts resound throughout this book. In their introductory chapter, McNiven and Russell identify seven tropes that reflect the prevailing attitudes during different stages of the history of anthro- pological/archaeological relations with Appropriated Pasts: Indigenous Peoples and the Colonial Culture of Archaeology by Ian J. McNiven and Lynette Russell. AltaMira Press, Lanham, MD. 315 pp. ISBN 0-7591-0906-0 (hardcover) US$87. ISBN 0-7591-0907-9 (paperback) US$36.95. 2005.