Spriggs, Matthew2020-03-06Matthew Spriggs (2019) Covert Control? Indigenous Agency in Edward Winslow Gifford’s Fijian Archaeological Expedition of 1947, The Journal of Pacific History, 54:3, 397-416, DOI: 10.1080/00223344.2018.15560890022-3344http://hdl.handle.net/1885/202094The story of University of California archaeologist Edward Winslow Gifford’s 1947 Fijian fieldwork has been told up to now as a classic piece of colonial fieldwork with aims and direction dictated by the foreign specialist. But examination of the extensive Gifford archive held in the University of California Berkeley’s Bancroft Library and its Hearst Museum and a bit of ‘reading against the grain’ reveal a quite different story. Indigenous agency played a major, probably even decisive, role in how the expedition unfolded. The value of archival research into the history of archaeology, and particularly its contribution to the teaching of archaeological practice today, is significant in revealing ‘hidden histories’ that make a difference.This work was supported by Australian Research Council [Grant Number FL140100218].application/pdfen-AU© 2019 The Journal of Pacific History, IncPacific archaeologyFijiIndigenous agencyEdward GiffordRabici LogavatuKingsley RothRatu Sukuna2019-01-1110.1080/00223344.2018.15560892019-11-25