Let the ancestors rest in peace? New challenges for cultural heritage management in Zimbabwe, Gilbert Pwiti

• Cultural heritage management and archaeological research in Zimbabwe have been the byproducts of colonialism
• This dates back to the beginning of the present century and, for the greater part of the time, management of the cultural heritage and archaeological research were done without the involvement of the indigenous populations
• When the country became independent from British rule in 1980, however, the new political environment placed new responsibilities on heritage managers
• Communities living in areas where the sites to be managed are located want to be involved
• In some cases, the nature of their involvement conflicts with current professional heritage management
• Yet, at the same time, the guiding philosophy of heritage management is that the local people should not be alienated from their past
• The new environment has therefore brought new challenges for heritage managers
• Discussion centres on the conflict between official heritage management policy and practice on one hand, and the views of the local communities on the other
• Particular focus is on the management of sites of the Great Zimbabwe tradition
• Other areas of conflict are subsequently considered, including political interests and tourism
• In the final analysis, the different ways in which heritage managers have tried to reconcile the issues are discussed
• There is nothing new about existing conflicts between archaeology, cultural heritage management and local communities
• The 1986 World Archaeological Congress devoted a whole session to this question and the first 'Inter-Congress' was organized to discuss a particular aspect of this conflict: the excavation of human remains
• This does not, however, mean that all issues have been agreed on and the problems solved
• In Zimbabwe, open conflict between archaeological research, heritage management and local communities would appear to be a recent development, largely centered on sites of the Great Zimbabwe tradition
• Sites of the Great Zimbabwe tradition constitute the most spectacular and perhaps most important of Zimbabwe's cultural heritage
• The majority of them are dry-stone walled enclosures occurring in a variety of styles and sizes, dating from between the twelfth and eighteen centuries A.D.
• The tradition is associated with the development of cultural complexity in southern Africa, and some of the larger sites, dating from different periods, are now known to have been the centres of successive sociopolitical formations commonly referred to as states
• From the time that Great Zimbabwe and similar sites became known to outsiders, right up to the present, research and conservation, at least of the stone walls, have been seen as important
• What was notable throughout the greater part of the colonial period was that restoration of the stone structures did not follow planned scientific procedures, but tended to be characterized by haphazard programmes using a variety of methods and techniques
• More important, in the context of the main concern of this paper, was the total absence of any direct inputs or involvement of the local populations in the formulation of the programmes, except as common labourers
• It has to be remembered that this was a colonial situation in which there existed tension between the interpretation of the cultural heritage as represented by Great Zimbabwe and the politics of the day
• When Great Zimbabwe became known to Europeans coming into the country in the early part of the century, it almost immediately formed the centre of an an archaeological and political controversy regarding the identity of its builders, its date and its function
• Despite the results of scientific archaeological research as early as 1906 and further work in the 1930s and 1950s which established the indigenous identity of Great Zimbabwe and its dating to the early part of the second millennium AD, official colonial government policy was to continue to press for an exotic origin
• In the context outlined above, the colonial heritage manager's task, be it site restoration, preservation or conservation, did not have to contend with the views or feelings of the local communities
• The heritage of the past, as represented by the stone buildings of the Great Zimbabwe tradition, was not theirs
• The only major challenge for the heritage managers, who were in any case part of the colonial system, was perhaps what methods best to employ in conservation
• In a foreword to a 1982 booklet on Great Zimbabwe, the then Minister of Home Affairs, Herbert Ushewokunze, under whose responsibility National Museums and Monuments and therefore cultural heritage management fell, quoted Robert Mugabe, then Prime Minister of the new nation of Zimbabwe: "Independence will bestow on us... a new future and perspective and, indeed, a new history and a new past."
• The last point is especially true of our national symbol, Great Zimbabwe
• In a very real way this precious cornerstone of our culture was taken away from us with our country by the colonialists... to rob us of our past and our pride.. now the time has come to set the record straight, to seek out and renew our past
• Archaeology is no more than a tool
• For the first time in Zimbabwe it must now be wielded for the peope
• The first step is to take Great Zimbabwe back
• The above quotation makes reference to a number of important points that are central to the management of the archeological heritage
• In the first place, it emphasizes that Great Zimbabwe is not just an archaeological site, but a national symbol, which implies that whatever work is undertaken there is potentially subject to political manipulation
• Secondly, it highlights the fact that the local people should be placed at the centre of archaeological research and, by inference, the conservation and presentation of Great Zimbabwe
• Thirdly, it highlights the fact that research and interpretation of the archaeological record are subject to and part of a given political process
• It has been shown above that, during the colonial period, local communities were not part of the management of the heritage and, indeed, their heritage has been taken away from them 
• Since independence, however, while there may have been some initial problems, as noted by Ucko, Zimbabwe has been going through a process of cultural revival, with active encouragement from government
• Garlakec cites a very relevant case which presents an early postindependence example of the problems under discussion
• He reports that Sophia Muchini, a respected spirit medium held to be that of Mbuya Hehanda, heroine of the first major attempt to rid Zimbabwe of the colonial presence in 1897, had, prior to independence in the 1970s, attempted to set up her home at Great Zimbabwe, a site which for her was a major religious centre
• More recently, one of the national TV stations featured a documentary on conservation and other aspects of Great Zimbabwe which presented the views of archaeologists, heritage managers and some of the traditional leaders who live around the site and directly identify with it as a religious centre
• Great Zimbabwe is not the only example
• In a University of Zimbabwe BA (Archaeology) final year research paper investigating local attitudes towards museums and monuments, similar issues emerged for other parts of the country
• Traditional leaders interviewed in the course of the field research presented a case against conservation of the stone enclosures in their areas
• They argued that these sites were the homes of the ancestors
• When they disintegrated and fell into ruins, there was nothing amiss
• The ancestors were simply abandoning their homes and relocating to some other place
• It was their wish that the sites should disintegrate
• The heritage manager should therefore not interfere with the process
• In 1991, this author started a long-term archaeological research project in the mid-Zambezi valley in northern Zimbabwe
• Permission to work on the sites, particularly to excavate, had to be sought from the local traditional religious leaders
• Female students participating needed special ritual cleansing and protection
• This was one side of the story which may not relate to heritage management as such, but is cited as an example of the conflict between cultural heritage management and the interests of the researcher, be it an archaeologist or a heritage manager, and local communities
• It also serves as an example of how local populations can control the past
• What is of more relevance to heritage management in the context of the Zambezi valley came out in subsequent general discussion with the local leaders with regards to site preservation and conservation 
•  The ancestors did not need the protection
• The cases cited above are not isolated, but reflect a situation common throughout Zimbabwe
• As noted above, this active interest and involvement in the work of National Museums and Monuments is a postcolonial development
• The past cannot be divorced from the present, and material remains from the past have often represented very powerful symbols for a variety of political agendas
• Cecil Rhodes tried to manipulate the past as a vehicle of colonial propaganda with regard to Great Zimbabwe and the site has remained a political symbol to the present day
• Its preservation and proper management has been a national priority 
• This direct political interest in the site has wide-ranging implications for heritage managers, and places a heavy burden on them to make sure that they are doing the correct thing
• A monument of the size and national importance of Great Zimbabwe, not to mention the many other similar sites, requires considerably more personnel than is currently the case
• The above are not the only problems
• There are also practical questions of conflict between what the heritage manager may feel are his or her professional obligations and political and public perception
• “Within the Great Enclosure, perhaps the most impressive part of Great Zimbabwe in terms of the wall styles, height, and thickness, are two large trees. The trees have become a part of the identity of the site, to the extent that, to most people, they were there at the time of construction and are therefore an integral part of the heritage. They appear on he Zimbabwe currency and elsewhere as part of the national identity. However, these very trees have been identified as a threat to the walls.
• Great Zimbabwe is a major tourist attraction, with thousands of both foreign and local people visiting the site each year and continuing to increase
• It accounts for a respectable contribution to the country's foreign currency earnings, and is the largest contributor to 'own resources' by way of revenue for National Museums and Monuments
• The heritage manager is charged with the responsibility of preserving and conserving the site, as well as its presentation to the public
• While it is the aim of government to encourage as many local and foreign tourists as possible to visit Great Zimbabwe and other monuments, this presents a number of challenges for the heritage manager
• In addition to the above problems, which are themselves new, arising from increased domestic and foreign tourism, are the views of the tourists on preservation
• Like the traditional leaders cited above, there is division of opinion here. Tourists to archaeological sites in Zimbabwe are invited at the end of their visit to make comments on their experience and suggestions for improvement of any aspect of the site
• They therefore argue that Great Zimbabwe should be let be, because the ruinous appearance resulting from wall collapses conveys the ancient history of the site
• Added to all this is the perhaps internationally common program of site preservation 
• The cultural heritage is an educational resource for young people, and there is often the feeling that these should be the primary target in the design of site presentation
• Finally, we should take a look at the international dimension of managing a World Heritage Site such as Great Zimbabwe and its successor Khami
• Conservation at such sites is always in the international eye, and it must be seen to be conforming to internationally accepted standards 
• Zimbabwean heritage manager is not only to be able to observe the ethics of conservation, but also to keep abreast of the latest methods and techniques
• The problems facing the new heritage manager in Zimbabwe can be summarized as: conflict with local traditional communities, politics and the past, the problems of tourist management and striving to meet international standards
• Archaeology and related concerns are a very recent introduction to most of Africa, Zimbabwe included
• If heritage management is to succeed in such a situation, then it must start from the point of building up awareness and demonstrating, in a tangible way, its benefits
• In Zimbabwe, it has been realized that this is the only way forward
• As such, top of the agenda has been the need for public education in terms of appreciation of the benefits of the country's cultural resources, and the need for preservation 
• This has been approached at two levels, among local communities and, more importantly in the schools
• One approach has been to link the cultural heritage to tangible economic benefits as part of what Ndoro has called a corporate strategy for the conservation of monuments
• This is a strategy that seeks to involve local people by emphasizing to them that the cultural heritage is a marketable commodity 
• This has so far been experimental with at stone-walled sites near Great Zimbabwe with some encouraging sites 
• The heritage is theirs, and it is their responsibility to preserve it for their children's children
• Part of this approach has been the change from restricting access to sites interpreted as traditional religious centres
• The approaches outlined above have achieved a measure of success not only at Great Zimbabwe but at other centres in different parts of the country
• Problems arising from the politics of the past are perhaps a little more difficult to address
• Tourist management and presentation of the heritage are problems not unique to Zimbabwe
• In this regard, Zimbabwean heritage managers have learned lessons from other countries with their own experience
• Problems of wall climbing, for example, are now being partly overcome by appealing to the visitors' sense of responsibility rather than prohibitive directives
• Policing the monument, however, continues to be practiced 
• Although the Master Plan has been criticized for commericalizing the heritage, and for simplifying the difficulties of raising national heritage consciousness, it can be hailed as a major attempt to address some of the challenges