Stealing Native American Artifacts

[huajiro]

Now this sux......sorry painted wolf

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/30/looted.museum.ap/index.html


seems like it is pretty common:

http://www.moolelo.com/looting-ring.html

 

[Isis-Astoroth]

You just know those artefacts have ended up in the home of an amoral rich collector.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Ugh... just, ugh.

 

[No*s]

You just know those artefacts have ended up in the home of an amoral rich collector.

I strongly agree with you, though I would replace the "a" with "im" in this context.

I have a hard enough time supporting the plundering of tombs, religious artifacts, and things for science, but I cannot stomach it when it is done by private groups. One of the articles mentioned a human skull, which is what got me thinking along those lines .

It truly is disheartening.

 

[Scuba Pete]

The year was 1974 as we were cooking lunch on an Island in the St John's River. Something looked wierd coming out of the earth... it was a piece of skull. 30 or so minutes later we had unearthed most of a skeleton. Seeing how the head had been cracked, we knew it was a murder. The sheriff was contacted and forensics came out. We answered a ton of questions, and then paddled home in the dark.

A few weeks later a gentleman from UF called me. He also asked me about the position we had found the bones. I was invited to come visit him at the Florida State Museum. I drew him a map of how the body was laid out and described our ordeal in detail. The professor was certain that the death was not natural, but the bones were older than our country and so the murder was not in the Sheriff's jurisdiction.

Aparently, the indian name for the St John's was "The River of Death". Many of the islands therein are man made and are either kichen middens, or burial sites. I gained a TON of respect for archeologists that day, and learned that given enough info, they can unlock the past. The removal of human remains and artifacts is criminal in the State of Florida and so it should be. These idiots are pilfering our heritage for 13 shekels of silver and do not see the disparity in that.

Take only pictures; leave only bubbles (footprints).

 

[No*s]

Netdoc,

For my part I didn't say I opposed archaeologists, but that I had a hard time with the job of digging up the dead. I don't like, for instance, the idea of someone digging up my mother in 1000 years. It is a very nasty thought to me, and it was probably no less nasty to those in the distant past.

However, I recognize that it yields positive results, and may well me neccessary, so I don't actually oppose it, but I can't support it either if that makes any sense.

For me, respecting the dead is just like respecting the living, and death is the flipside of life. Add to that that I believe at the very least the saints and the righteouss are conscious of our actions on earth, and that compounds things a little.

I reallize this is a bit off-topic, because the article doesn't cover that...but hopefully that explains why I feel as I do...

However, I don't think there is anyone who could, or many who would defend these people's actions...

 

[Scuba Pete]

I respect your feelings even though I don't share them in the same way. I was just sharing an event in my life and how it made me think. The bones were brown and moist... not like what you would expect really old bones to be like. I kept washing my hands in the river thinking that I had decaying flesh on them. It was grisly.

Out of youthful superstition we did not sleep on that island that night, though we probably should have. We were expected to get back the next day, but pulled into the marina about two in the am. I think we saw 4,576 ghosts that night, as well as 10,596 gators and 23,487 mocassins. Death and darkness play tricks like that. The forensic guy thought it was really old, but had no idea it was a native American. I don't think the Disney characatures of Ichabod Crane came close to capturing the true terror inherent in superstitions.

Oh yeah... the professor at UF told us that they would not charge us for disturbing the remains since we thought it part of a modern crime scene. Other than that, the penalties are stiff for desecrating native American sites like this.

 

[No*s]

Heh. I've had my fair share of seeing things when I was little, though I didn't always convince myself I was lol. I know exactly how that works.

 

[huajiro]

Thanks for sharing your experience Net Doc