Arrowheadology.com: Arrowheads, Indian Artifacts and Early Man

Letter From A Concerned Citizen

Posted on 04. Aug, 2009 by Shannon Graham in Artifact Finds, Flint Artifacts

Note: The following letter was submitted by a concerned citizen who wishes to remain anonymous.

It’s 3:45 pm in the middle of December somewhere in the Western United States. I have just waded through the freezing waters of one of the many freestone creeks that empty out of this mountain range. A maze of man made canals will corral this winter’s snowmelt into an ever tightening noose and force it down stream to a distant city to be used by millions of people who share the same DNA and common ancestors as I do.

Most of these people would not take the slightest interest in what I am doing. More than a few would perhaps feel I deserved whatever it was I was going to catch hell for if I were caught. It’s risky business, because after all, it’s almost dark, the temperature has dropped to below freezing, and I’m wading across an icy, slippery creek so I won’t be seen emerging at the sandy cut in the opposite bank. It is an ugly gouge that has been exposed by hundreds of cattle. Livestock are allowed to freely roam this part of America and cross this particular creek daily.

I know from past experience that if it has rained the day before and, most importantly, if the cattle have not already crushed that which I seek, there might be treasures to be found on the other side. At the mention of treasure, most of the people in the great city downstream would perk up their ears. If they were to learn that the treasures I am seeking are Native American artifacts, I can guarantee that if given the chance, many of them would be waiting anxiously on the other side of the creek. They would hope for my safe return, and that I had managed to find an artifact undamaged by the daily migration of cattle. How wonderful it would be for them to actually hold something in their hands that was manufactured by our ancestors over 3,000 years ago! Most of you who are reading this know exactly what that feels like, and once felt, you can either let it go and walk away, or you can start on your own journey of discovery. You would want to know more about your ancestors and might even start collecting artifacts. You would want to experience that feeling of touching something made from Native Americans who have lived here for at least 12,000 years!

This particular evening, I would be able to dazzle them with the beautiful 2 1/2 inch dark obsidian Gateway point I found underneath the Cottonwood that overlooks the crossing. I would next pull out the mano that had rolled down to the streams edge, where I was lucky enough to find it before it fell in and was washed downstream to be covered by tons of water-borne silt and sand—never to be seen again.

I would be clever enough to keep my rarest find for last, because by now, I would have the un-divided attention of almost all of these people. With my heart pounding, I would pull from my inside jacket pocket an object that would make everyone gasp in amazement. Under the starlight, a 4 1/2 inch bi-pointed stone knife glitters, flaked to perfection and clear as smoky crystal! Would they believe that our ancestors made this marvel of technology from molten lava borne from the eruption of a small volcanic event just a few miles up this valley? I found this obsidian jewel poking out of the sand where it had been exposed by the rock hard hoofs of that day’s cattle commute. Even more miraculous is the fact that it has not been shattered! Everyone wants to touch this artifact made from solid rock. They don’t realize that a dark cloud of ignorance and mistrust will completely destroy this artifact without any help from the local range cattle. I keep these dark thoughts to myself. Apathy runs rampant in our world, but I want to savor the moments as the beautiful artifact is passed from hand to hand to those who want to know more.

I would be asked a myriad of questions: Who made these? How were they made? Why are they here? Why are you sneaking around like a thief? And I would have to tell them all why I have to keep my nocturnal collecting a secret. I am a ghost collector—forever haunted by the evolutionary intrigue of our Native American ancestors, but shackled by the archaic laws drafted for the benefit of a few selfish groups who managed to hoodwink the politicians; those masters of the Eggshell Dance, trying not to offend any of the many small special interest groups with deep pockets or offers of future votes. All of this blatant stripping away of our civil liberties has been done to appease the misguided distrust among our Native American brothers. We watch helplessly as many tribes continue to commit their own societal suicide, all the while abetted by the scientific community, whom they believe have their best interests at heart. Our country’s Native American history is being crushed and drowned by lease holding ranchers and long term water projects just as thoroughly as any illegal grave robber or pot digger, a noxious name that I have been branded with.
My wife and I were born in the United States, and we raised our children to be responsible adults here in this nameless town. Even though our birthright as citizens of the United States of America guarantees us and our families more freedoms than any other country in the world, a mangy range cow destined for slaughter still has more rights than I do at this moment in time and space, at this stream crossing smack dab in the middle of my home state.

You see, I am not allowed to bend down and pick up a rock that has been chipped into an amazing tool by my ancestors who lived right here on this sandy beach 3,000 years ago. Why? Because the Federal Government says I can’t. And just because I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen with the great un-luck of not having a degree in Archaeology or Anthropology, I have to obtain a permit in order to do so. Do you think that is ever going to happen to the common avocational archaeologist? When pigs fly!

The bottom line is I can not pick up these out of context artifacts and collect them—not even Native Americans can do that. Why? Because while we weren’t paying attention, a group of concerned Archaeologists, Anthropologists and Native Americans decided that the millions upon millions of artifacts already housed in public museums and universities throughout the United States were not enough—they want them all and they want to be able to stop others, like you and me, from surface collecting them on public and private property. Why? Well, the first reasons were of noble intent—to stop the pillaging and theft of gravesite artifacts by the “pot digger”, a nasty term that is being used to describe me and the thousands of other law abiding citizens who pursue avocational Native American artifact collecting. I have never found an ancient burial site. And I can think of little else as loathsome as to desecrate someone’s ancestral resting place. God help the person who has no conscience and does. Their greed and apathy has wrecked havoc and mistrust. I cannot freely share my collection and knowledge with others. I have to be careful to keep my collection out of sight and more importantly—I cannot leave a paper trail of the priceless information these artifacts contain. No one gains anything and everyone loses something.

Writer’s note: the above essay was penned from a sense of urgency and a touch of anger. You see, I envy the avocationalist who can freely surface collect artifacts. I wonder what it is like to keep a written history of your discoveries and document all the information associated with them. What a sense of accomplishment you must feel to be able to read through your field journals with artifacts in hand, comparing notes and looking for clues. You know that your efforts are helping to complete the ultimate puzzle: where did we come from? Unfortunately, there are those of us who must lurk around the fringes, sneak up on the facts, and above all else, keep our mouths shut. I haven’t been able to freely and legally surface collect a Native American artifact for almost 3 decades. What a shame! I have forgotten the thrill of finding an ancient relic without the guilt of knowing I am breaking the law! I do know what it feels like to forever look over your shoulder, and believe me, it is more than just a pain in the neck. Do not let this happen to you! Look up and take action—now! Please send in your responses and feelings about my dilemma! Weather you agree or not, any dialog is better than a crushed artifact in the sands of time. And ultimately, we all are losers in our quest for knowledge, and that is the biggest crime of all.

Thank you for your time!
A concerned citizen

P.S.—So just what is the harm in picking up a stone artifact? (A little information gathering will tell you that most surface collected artifacts are “out of context”, science speak that means they have no value other than an indicator of its existence, since it was not excavated from a documented site). After all, it is lying in plain view, vulnerable, and quite loaded with valuable information if the right human comes along and finds it. Cows don’t appreciate them, Mother Nature does her best to bury them forever, and the small window of opportunity afforded us is wasted if the artifact is not rescued. Is saving a unique human made object wrong? Yes and no. It depends on whose side you are on, your ethics, and ultimately your definition of your Constitutional rights.
The science minds will tell you it is absolutely wrong and unethical to surface collect an artifact. You can legally collect rocks, pinecones, feathers, bottles, horseshoes, railroad spikes, fossils, plants, animals, firewood, colored sand, etc., with permission or a permit from the right regulatory agency, but just try to get a permit to surface collect Native American artifacts in the western states. Of course, if you have the right college degree in Archaeology or Anthropology, or any other science loosely associated with Native American studies, you can get a permit, and can probably find a grant to pay for the cost of an excavation. Then you could dig them up, date and label them, putting them in their corresponding numbered bag. Later you can put them in a box and stack them in a storage room where they will start to gather dust.

Meanwhile, the tax paying citizens like you and me who helped fund this approved method of collection of a specific permitted excavation will anxiously wait for the required scientific document to be printed up and made available to the public in vain. Often, it never happens. The archived artifacts are forgotten, misplaced and may as well have been stomped on by a herd of cattle.

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Tags: Arrowheads, Laws, Surface Hunting