The Routledge Handbook of the Archaeology of Indigenous-Colonial Interaction in the Americas, edited by Lee M. Panich and Sara L. Gonzalez, is an ambitious and timely addition to current ethical debates in archaeological theory centered on decolonization, Indigenous theory, and the disassembly of colonial dichotomies (Indigenous/European, prehistoric/historic, East/West). Thoughtfully assembled and with diverse representation through 33 chapters, the Handbook is a reader- and student-friendly compendium divided into four sections: theoretical foundations, core issues and topics, case studies from a hemispheric perspective, and the prospect of decolonial futures. From a birds-eye view, due to the thematic integration throughout the text, the volume is useful for any student delving into the materiality of colonialism. Moreover, from a bottom-up view, the geographical range covered by the chapters allows inquiry into specific regions of the Americas. Any one of these chapters would serve as an appropriate and engaging starting point for those new to the field and the discipline.

There are several threads that intertwine throughout the text. First, and most significantly, is the emphasis on the need for collaboration between Indigenous and archaeological communities (noting that these groups have much overlap). Critically, most of the authors affirm that to practice and interpret archaeology solely from a Western epistemological perspective fails to center Native voices and instead reasserts the coloniality of the archaeology of colonialism. Second, all contributing authors emphasize the importance of examining cultural histories and practices of each unique colonial context. In particular, the contributors stress that historically, archaeological theory as applied to colonial encounters focused on binary divisions of colonizer and colonized, noting that each “side” was not the monolithic entity often portrayed in historical and archaeological narratives. Instead, the authors seek to rewrite these assumptions through nuanced and specific case studies for not only each Indigenous or Native community but also every European colonial entity. In a similar vein, the contributors stress that to explore the repeated and ongoing strategies of colonial encounters, scholars must utilize a longue durée perspective for all participants, noting that initial meetings between Europeans and Native communities were shaped by their existing cultural histories and continued to influence subsequent colonial interactions.

The final two themes in the text explore the limitations of material culture and the ways that archaeologists have struggled to interpret concepts such as “change,” “acculturation,” “stasis,” and “persistence” through object assemblages. Broadly, many authors emphatically suggest that shifts in materials do not equate to shifts in cultural traditions. In fact, by arguing that the adoption of new objects signifies an abandonment of ancestral practices, archaeologists are forcing stasis on Native groups and therefore replicating the same dichotomous thinking of archaeological antecedents. Finally, several authors consider the absence of material presence not as evidence of absence or acquiescence, but rather as persistence in Native strategies such as mobility and resilience. The Handbook consequently underscores the need for nuance and individual case studies, affirming that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to studies of Indigenous-colonial interactions. Above all, contributors to the Handbook advocate not only for a drastic rupture with attempts to practice or theorize archaeology from within Western “scientific” thinking but for a new, decolonized archaeology grounded in Native humanism and theory.

The first section, entitled “Methodological and Theoretical Foundations,” includes eight chapters designed to assess the deep history of both Indigenous-colonial interactions and, perhaps more importantly, the metahistory of the coloniality of the archaeology of colonialism. This section is bookended by a chapter that asserts the importance of collaborative archaeology and the ongoing effects of the archaeology of colonialism (Gonzalez and Panich) and a study of how various theoretical trends in the history of Indigenous-colonial archaeologies of the Americas (acculturation, postcolonialism, etc.) relate to the broader project of decolonization (Craig N. Cipolla). The middle six chapters address both theoretical and ethical concerns, including a chapter on deep history and landscape (Martin D. Gallivan) and an exceptionally impactful contribution on the recolonization of Indigenous Guaraní through the archaeology of Jesuit missions and heritage sites (Cristóbal Gnecco and Adriana Schmidt Dias). From more methodological and thematically specific perspectives, Matthew Liebmann contributes a chapter on debates around Indigenous population decline, followed by two pieces focused on the environment from the contexts of historical ecology (Nicole M. Mathwich) and climate change (Dennis B. Blanton). Finally, Monika Therrien’s chapter explores new ways of analyzing colonial-era texts, advocating for “denaturalizing, decolonizing, and deconstructing” the archive. Each of these chapters would be an excellent introductory piece for a new student of Indigenous-colonial interactions from the archaeological perspective.

The second section, “Core Issues and Topics,” introduces how scholars have thought about Indigenous engagement with Europeans and African Diaspora groups through conversion, labor, technology, and transitional cities. Terrance Weik’s piece on African-Indigenous interactions underscores the need for more engagement with culturally diverse communities in novel places (Africans in Native America and Native peoples on plantations). Kent G. Lightfoot, Peter A. Nelson, Michael A. Grone, and Alec Apodaca and Charles R. Cobb explore the trajectories of colonial engagement from the frames of diversity in types of interactions and religious orders, respectively. The final three chapters in this section investigate specific aspects of colonialism, including labor and natural-resource extraction (Mary Van Buren), technological change and persistence in technologies and traditions (Panich), and the progressive intermingling of Spanish and Native peoples in increasingly “hybrid” spaces and contexts (Patricia Fournier Garcia). Although these six chapters could have smoothly been grouped into the first section, the division does not feel arbitrary from a thematic standpoint.

The mammoth third section, “Archaeological Explorations of Native-Lived Colonialisms,” contains 12 subsections designed to act as poignant case studies illustrating the themes of the first two sections. The geographical range includes the Caribbean (Jorge Ulloa Hung, Roberto Valcárcel Rojas, Andrzej T. Antczak, Marlieke Ernst, Menno L. P. Hoogland, and Corinne L. Hofman), South America (for the central Andes in what is today Peru, see Di Hu and Kylie Quave; for the Patagonian Atlantic coast, see Silvana Buscaglia; for what is today Brazil, see Marianne Sallum and Francisco Silva Noelli), North America (for the Southern Plains, see Sarah Trabert and Brandi Bethke; for the American Southwest, see Lindsay G. Montgomery; for what is today Texas, see Alston V. Thoms, Ramon Juan Vasquez, and Art Martinez de Vara; for the Mississippi Valley, see Diana DiPaolo Loren; for the Northeast, see Heather Law Pezzarossi, Stephen A. Mrozowski, and D. Rae Gould; for what is today Canada, see Kisha Supernant), and Mesoamerica (for the Maya region, see Minette C. Church, Christine A. Kray, and Jason Yaeger; for the Yucatán, see Patricia A. McAnany, Maia Dedrick, and Adolfo Iván Batún Alpuche). Although these case studies are weighted geographically toward North American examples, the range of topics is more diverse and includes themes such as social networks, migration and material culture, landscape and mobility, bodily adornment, persistence and resilience, and varied conceptions of heritage. This group of chapters is an important addition to the volume because each provides contextually nuanced deep-dives into regions, periods, and communities.

The fourth and final section, “Decolonial Futures,” broadly grapples with the ongoing structures initiated by colonialism and archaeology’s disciplinary role in acknowledging and subverting the European epistemologies historically cited in the archaeology of colonialism and colonial encounters. For instance, Sandra Montón-Subías, Ian Kretzler and Gonzalez, and Nathan P. Acebo all contribute case studies that start with a decolonial perspective to counter narratives of disappearance with those of survivance. In particular, Acebo uses Vizenor’s concept of survivance to caution against the appropriation of Indigenous epistemology. The next four chapters advance contemporary themes on food sovereignty (Ashleigh BigWolf Thompson and Tristan Reader), the importance of Indigenous research paradigms and humanism (Ora V. Marek-Martinez), and the limits of repatriation’s efforts toward decolonization (Dorothy Lippert). The final chapter (Sven Haakanson Jr., Holly Barker, and Gonzalez) is an excellent example of the decolonization methods discussed throughout the rest of the volume because it is a transcription of an oral conversation rather than a continuation of typical chapter formats. Above all, the chapters in this section round out the volume with a united and powerful message: the archaeology of Indigenous-colonial interactions must not only “include” the voices of the Global Majority but remove itself from the broader colonial framework. To do so, archaeologists must advance different epistemological foundations grounded in Indigenous theory, storytelling, and heritage to disrupt and work outside of the existing colonial structures.

Drawing from a thematic and methodological (rather than geographic) organization, the Handbook unites Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars to create an accessible assemblage. Consequently, this volume is an excellent and timely addition to the growing body of archaeological theory that attempts to decenter archaeology itself (here defined as being centered on the past) to tell stories in ways that are with, by, and for Indigenous communities.