Side-by-side with archaeological investigations on the Island of Mograt in northern Sudan, a ‘community heritage’ project is dedicated to exploring the recent past and the present of the Island. This participatory (GIS) project has begun to investigate ways in which members of various Island communities represent ‘their’ Mograt in mental maps and narratives concerning day-to-day routines as well as extraordinary activities and events linked to place(s) of various significance. This work is hoped to provide a solid foundation for planned heritage work on the island on the part of the archaeological mission, such as the dissemination of archaeological knowledge to the local population or the protection of archaeological sites. Rather than assuming that archaeological heritage is (and should be) of significance in identification processes among local communities, the project asks what people of Mograt consider to be their ‘heritages’ and what role(s) these play in local lives. What is deemed important and worth speaking about, worth preserving and presenting? Indeed, who and what are ‘local communities’ on and of Mograt? In the framework of this study the archaeological team was considered a temporary part of the Island community with its very own ways of perceiving and representing the island in maps and narratives based in its academic tradition and self-identification. As ‘heritage specialists’, it will be members of the archaeological team who will shape the public presentation of the Island’s past in community outreach programmes. Hence, our project reflects on ways in which local views and understandings of the island and its pasts can be incorporated into participatory, if not collaborative, heritage narratives and methods of presentation that represent and juxtapose at least some of the many heritages of Mograt.