Concerns over the negative impact of large-scale developments are becoming more prominent in an ever-evolving world. Linked to these concerns are the indigenous communities who continue to interact with their heritage present in the surrounding landscape, an interest that should be protected through the implementation of legislation that is truly representative of a country’s population. The comparative study presented in this dissertation was conducted at two locations; Dumezulu in South Africa and Jokkmokk in Sweden. I interviewed the relevant stakeholders in order to understand the impact each group had on the heritage resources present in the respective study areas. In South Africa, I assessed the relationship of key stakeholders (community members, Traditional Council, and the Ray Nkonyeni Municipality) involved in the construction and future management of the tourism centre. It became evident that there were a number of misunderstandings between these stakeholders. The Municipality, as a government structure, seemed to have an upper hand in terms of power. While the tourism development was the initiative of the Dumezulu community, the Municipality has the final say in decision-making because it raised and allocated part of the funding. Furthermore, South African heritage legislation does not seem to favour communities, giving more power to the state through its ownership of heritage resources. In Sweden, I interviewed and spoke to relevant authorities on Sami heritage issues. These were people who had worked closely with the Sami population. The heritage issues present in the South African case study did not differ drastically to the issues present in the Swedish case study. Inequality is not limited to South Africa, but Sweden too, where the Sami population does not command power over decisions linked to their cultural heritage resources. While the Sami have attracted interest for tourism purposes, a large number of these visitors are still mainly driven by stereotypes. As in the case of South Africa, the Swedish heritage legislation does not make special allowances for the Sami to manage their heritage resources in ways they consider appropriate for them. What I conclude is that there is the need for increased appreciation of Traditional Management Systems. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Anthropology and Archaeology / MA / Unrestricted

The survival of vernacular architecture in the world, and particularly in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, is under threat due to rapid modernization, urbanization, socioeconomic transformation, loss of its characteristics resulting from changes and development, and misinterpretation of its typology as well as serious issues of abandonment. Most Negeri Sembilan traditional Malay houses (NSTMH), in some cases over one hundred years old, are unprotected and are becoming derelict. The vernacular value of these houses and their preservation for future generations are therefore threatened. To date, little research has been undertaken into the challenges posed in the conservation of NSTMH from the perspectives of house owners and professionals, and how the changing patterns of their form, fabric, and function have shaped the challenges of preserving them. To explore this from a more holistic approach, existing local heritage legislation that protects traditional Malay houses in particular or timber vernacular architecture in general, and international charters were reviewed, as also successful cases of preservation of similar heritage. This research employs a multi-method qualitative approach by examining as a purposive sample selected 19th-century long-roof-type NSTMHs. The research methods consisted of semi-structured interviews with house owners and conservation experts, on-site survey of the houses’ changing patterns of form, fabric, and function, as well as reviews of the conservation heritage legislation context (national/ local) and international charters. Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis, while the accepted concept model of cultural heritage was used for analysis of the patterns of changes in the cases examined. Documents were reviewed using template analysis. Findings from the research outline the main challenges that include a lack of appreciation and understanding of heritage among house owners, lack of traditional building skills, lack of government support as well as insufficient documentation. Nonetheless, there is no legislation in place at either a national or local level to protect the traditional Malay house. All of the findings were triangulated prior to the development of the initial framework and further expert validation was obtained to establish the final framework. This research makes a significant contribution in expanding the existing body of knowledge, through exploration of how the house owners understand, value, and appreciate heritage within their environment, in addition to including conservation experts’ perspectives in this regard. Moreover, the main contribution of this study is the provision of a Conservation Principles Framework for the NSTMH that may be used by house owners, conservation experts, officials, the Village Security & Development Committee, academics, and students as a form of guidance to the implementation of conservation works. It is also hoped that it may act as a starting point for the Negeri Sembilan state government to develop guidance aimed to safeguard this valuable Malaysian heritage.

The aim of this research is to develop an understanding of historic Cowichan perception and utilization of wetlands in their traditional territory. The Cowichan live on the south east coast of Vancouver Island on the Northwest Coast of North America, in an area with many wetland features. The story of Cowichan culture history is currently characterized, through archaeological work, as marine oriented. However, archaeological research to date does not represent the full history of the Cowichan people. This research sets out to re-balance the cultural history of the Cowichan, through the qualitative and quantitative analysis of all available sources that identify economic and social orientation in Cowichan culture history, in particular those coming from archaeology, ethnography and oral tradition. As a way of integrating these diverse sources, a ‘Native archaeology’ is developed. This is an approach, which places equal value on etic (cultural outsider) and emic (cultural insider) created sources, and seeks to identify areas of similarity and difference in order that a fuller understanding of the culture may be reached. By applying the Native archaeological approach to Cowichan culture history, the marine orientation is placed in the context of the role of riverine wetlands, which was important both in terms of subsistence and of the symbolic significance that these places have in the self-reflected identity of the Cowichan. In this way, a story is to