Comments on: Letter From A Concerned Citizen

By: Ibmloa

Ibmloa — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:26:29 +0000

How is it that the Federal Government buried countless Native American treasures during the creation of Lake Powell yet it is considered criminal to collect pot shards, arrowheads and stone flakes when hiking along the cow trails in the remote areas of BLM land in Utah? If anyone has actually taken the time to venture into the very remote areas of Utah, which are ranged by cattle not penetrated by roads, far from any towns or pavement and seen for themselves the extensive amount of artifacts scattered about the ground this entire argument is mute. I picked up pocket-fulls of artifacts only to admire them around the campfire then place them back on the ground. I actually got tired of bending over to pick up the next interesting pot shard. What I did find breathtaking and ultimately saddening was climbing up rock walls to enter corn caches and residences (which appeared to be recently vacated) knowing this would never be saved, never given the respect it deserves.

By: DM #2

DM #2 — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:37:03 +0000

DM, you have several good points……oh wait, no you don’t because I picked them up in the Arco desert today. But seriously, do you think I am deft enough to think all you arch students use on potential sites is your eyes? I have seen machines in operation on the INL that see INTO the ground. They must use these machines each time someone wants to drill a core sample. The machine can graphically identify any type of artifact, burial site, stone tools ect ect, and it does an amazing job. You know who else uses these? Surprise, archeoligists do.
Don’t tell me that by removing a surface point I have erased a major find for you. Just charge up and go buddy. Another bizzare fact is that I am also untrained in archeology but I found 4 obsidian points today by using my better judgement, like, oh, here’s a windbreak next to the river. I would chip obsidian here if I was an indian. Sure enough, obsidian chips and a surface point. This is why we have this anger towards you people. You think that a degree makes you smart, when all it really does is dumb down your people skills. Oh and by the way, I left the points where they were but I got 8 badass photos of them and I’m going to hang them up in my office. The main reason being, my shoebox is already filled with images of idiots. Do you want them for your study?

By: DM

DM — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:35:19 +0000

I am sorry to tell you that there are many more reasons than you stated as to why this is now illegal. One of most concern to me, an anthropology/archaeology student, is the removal of said artifacts may hinder anyone from finding a possibly significant breakthrough. By picking artifacts off of the surface you are taking away the evidence that I am looking for while surveying an area of interest. The breakthrough discovery I am looking for may lie just a few inches under my feet, but because there are no surface indicators I never can find it. The reason there are no surface indicators is because someone has looted them off to hide in their closets. If you really care about finding the secrets of where we came from, then you should try to work jointly with someone who does possess a degree. I know that it sucks to see them collected and cataloged by people such as myself, but if we are ever to piece this together we need to pool our evidence, not divide it into countless private collections. I am not accusing you of being a “grave-robber” when I say this, but many priceless discoveries have been lost to “grave-robbers” and if we have to make laws against people looting these treasures to stop them I accept that. I also grew up in Idaho, and I know many uneducated people who would loot a grave and not even know they did. They are so obsessed with finding a point that they don’t stop to look and think about the site they are destroying. These same people are the reason why we have so many road/trail restrictions because they will drive their 4×4’s and ATV’s off-road or on muddy roads destroying not just artifacts, but habitat, roads, watersheds, and sagebrush steppe. I’m sorry that we aren’t all intelligent enough to respect the land, but that is the fact of the matter. Until people take the responsibility that is theirs to be good stewards of the land then I think these laws are more than fair. AND WHEN I SAY PEOPLE NEED TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF THE LAND THAT MEANS EVERYONE AND UNTIL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US UNDERSTANDS THEN KEEP THE LAWS IN PLACE AND ADD A FEW MORE!!!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 08:05:26 +0000

I surface hunt for arrowheads here in Idaho and have found many great peices. I have even found areas that contained large amounts of artifacts that I was told were not used in that area. I tried to relay information about my finds to those who do the documenting but I usually am met with little or no interest from those doing research. There book was completed or their interest was now elsewhere. Once as a child growing up on the Oregon coast I found a few small stone tools in my yard near the beach. I told the museum curator and he wasn’t interested. Now 30 years later a few items like those I collected (not as nice) were found and the whole town is in an uproar. I contacted the team doing the 3 block long excavation and research and they didn’t want to see the pieces because they said they were not artifacts or of any value because my finding them didn’t bring them any fame or notoriety. My feelings are as follows. Keep those items in your own shoe box. Dont let some body take them from you to hide in their own shoe box.

By: casey ward

casey ward — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:18:01 +0000

By leaving these artifacts on the ground you are leaving them to degrade or decay away. if we don’t take them they will be lost forever and by passing them down to our children we are passing on history. our goventment should not be the only ones to allow and delligate who can collect and pass on historical knowledge and artifacts. they will choose wich parts to leave out and our history will be lost. i have collected artifacts from far west texas such as sandal and woven baskets wich would have surley decayed and been lost forever but now will live on.and you people saying why shouldn’t your kids be able to see the artifacts that have been taken. sounds like you are a little jealous and are not speaking for the right reasons.

By: Gary California

Gary California — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:55:43 +0000

The local Indians in So. Calif. had a belief that when someone dies the bad parts or bad spirits of their character moved into their material posessions and would haunt and bring bad luck to any future owner of these posessions. To set this free this bad mojo spirit the artifact had to be ritually broken or ” killed “. This seems to have been a widely held view among native americans and goes a long way toward explaining the aversion to artifact collection many tribes have. In California virtually ALL FORMS of field archaeology have been outlawed by casino indian lobbyist. The same tribes ironically actually admit that 95% of what they know about their own history and past culture came from the study of historians and archaeologists of european descent . I made my living in construction and could regale you with hours of horror stories of crimes against history I witnessed comitted following california state laws enforced by approved paid tribal site monitors on construction projects. I can get really angry and depressed over the destruction of precolumbian artifactual treasures I’ve seen destroyed before my own eyes. I am extremely aware of the horrific treatment native americans recieved by european invaders but surely currant policy is not the answer.

By: rick ash

rick ash — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 01:40:18 +0000

to david white 1/16 comanche is not worth mentioning. i am full blood comanche and i surface hunt everywhere and its my culture but its illegal but i still do it. thanks mr. true native,your just a white

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 06 May 2011 05:47:46 +0000

I greatly enjoyed viewing all the different perspectives… The one commonality being, that we all have a love for north america’s early history, and the remains there of… I was born and raised in Ohio, and now since 2006 lived in NW Tennessee. As a youth, history never interested me. I would hear story’s from grandparents on both my father and mother’s sides, about our early native ancestors. Honestly, I never thought much of it, only that I had Choctaw and Cherokee blood. One day, shortly after moving here, I happened to be at a friends house, when her husband came home from a hunt. He showed his treasures to me. It was then, as I held a serrated Kirk in my hand, at that very moment, I found a interest in history, that developed to all american history. All because a “law breaker” as we are labeled, educated me on these beautiful peices of history. Since then, Id like to add, a good friend of his, was burried alive, while digging in a cave, rich in abundance of gorgets, bone needles and fine points….In amazement and full of curiosity, I have ever since searched for peices of the past. I’m not by any means great at it, but I’ve gotten lucky a few times. If the local cemetary where grandmother was burried, called to inform you that 5 graves, including your grandmother’s, where unearthed by looters in search of jewelry, I am certain, that it would not sit well with any of us! Therefor, I would never disturb earth or burial to get one, I only enjoy finding the ones that want to be found. When I hold one in my hand, I often wonder, ‘was this used to provide food for a family’ ‘was this a weapon in a great battle’ ‘was this lost’ ‘was it damaged and discarded’ ‘was it deemed not good enough and replaced’ ‘was this a gift from a father to a son, or a cheif to a warrior’ etc…. Who really knows? Many questions like this, have been answered through study and comparison with passed down stories, tales and records. We now know differences between points, blades, spear tips and their uses, places they where likely to live, crafts they spent time and effort to make, how they where able to live and survive while conserving every natural resource, waisting nothing and giving back to the earth that provided everything they needed. I remain in amazement, at how, in that time, they had everything they needed, without the simplest of our forms of modern technology. They lived harmoniously happy with nature…. These evidential conclusions and findings, where done through the time well spent, of our archeologist’s and paleontologist’s. Not everything known of these people would have come about through you or I. Although some of them are NOT doing the right thing, I will always wonder what new discoveries they will make next… Anyone with a true interest in these artifacts, should be just as eager for future educational findings, wether it be from you, he, him or I. If you know where to look, they are plentiful enough for avid hunter, park rangers boss, ancestral heritage protector and the science guy. The only injustices being done, are 1. people disturbing burials 2. Letting peices of the past wash away, and or be destroyed….I have read the USC attachment from above and it is somewhat confusing. It pretty much states A. You must have a permit. B. Anyone can apply for a permit. C. Only those qualified to conduct the excavation (scientist), will be granted a permit. D. Penalties E. One brief sentence, excluding all those penalties from surface hunting. F. Definitions of land. G. Something about various agencies and the T.V.A….. Which, brings on my confusion…. The local wildlife refuge/T.V.A owns much of my area, and the brochure plainly states ” no hunting of any artifacts including but not limited to surface hunting of Indian artifacts”…. Is the last paragraph giving TVA authority to govern it’s owned land?… I am thankful, that I live in the great city of Indian mound, and at least have the security of my own back yard!

By: mark

mark — Thu, 05 May 2011 07:07:22 +0000

Park ranger i love you! David you are a idiot!!! if you think that every artifact that is collected by the officials will ever be seen by you, you,re kids, grandkids, and their grandkids , and so on . You are what i call a brainwashed american. Get you,re head out of you,re arss. The federal gov,t has over 148 million give or take artifacts , not to mention the skeletons. we live in a country drowning in corruption. Did you read about the blm archeaologist dan amick? You will have a chicago change of attitude. When the president compares geronimo to bin laden i am sick of the crap that this goverment has done to all native americans. i would say that all native americans who fought our military were hero,s in my book..they were defending what was theirs. my great grandma was born on the rez. I collect and study artifacts. I have a pomo friend who told me that if you find a arrowhead that you have A good heart. I had a medicine man say that everytime that a flake was knocked off a point that it was prayer for the animal that they would hunt!! put that in you,re book. brainwashed.

By: Jim hautman

Jim hautman — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:14:11 +0000

I was bowhunting in Montana last year for elk and grouse and lost several arrows and my knife. If anyone finds them this year, or 13,000 years from now you are welcome to them.