Collaboration, investigation, and interpretation: Indigenous narratives and archaeology of WWII in the Northern Mariana Islands

Indigenous Pacific Islander heritage has often been investigated through the scope of Western values and ideas. On the island of Saipan in the Western Pacific, this is apparent with the continued focus on combatant military history from World War II and tangible material culture (WWII). In this chapter, two projects focused on Indigenous perspectives and tangible and intangible heritage of the battle for Saipan are discussed, as well as the community-centered approaches taken by these projects. By incorporating oral histories, promoting community involvement in all stages of the research, and providing products and data to the community in a variety of ways, these projects advocate for future projects focused on Indigenous perspectives of war.