The real Indiana Jones

Comment:  For more on the subject, see Indiana Jones in Saturday Night Live and Indiana Jones's Criminally Bad Archaeology.

Catalina huckster looted Tongva graves

Catalina exhibit illuminates a dark episode in island's past

'The Strange and Mysterious Case of Dr. Glidden' tells the story of a man who created public entertainment from native inhabitants' bones.

By Louis SahagunThe Catalina Island Museum has opened a window into a dark period of life on the island with an exhibition devoted to a pseudoscientist who looted Native American graves for profit eight decades ago.

"The Strange and Mysterious Case of Dr. Glidden," which opened over the weekend, examines the life and times of Ralph Glidden, a hucksterish entrepreneur who in the 1920s and '30s excavated bones and relics from Tongva Indian burial grounds for sale and trade. He also presided over an "Indian museum" literally made of bones and situated on a hill overlooking Avalon harbor.

News articles from the 1920s written by Glidden's publicist describe his "Indian museum" as a "unique and weirdly spectacular institution," with shoulder-blade cornices and windows edged with toe, ankle, wrist and finger bones. Leg and arm bones served as brackets for shelves lined with skulls. Ceiling panels were decorated with human vertebra and rosettes of shoulder blades.

The Catalina Island Museum's look back at Glidden is rooted in a discovery last year. Curator John Boraggina chanced upon boxes of Glidden's journals, ledgers, letters and photographs while searching a musty backroom for items for an exhibit of the World War II era.Comment:  For more on looting, see Petroglyph Theft Is "Worse Act of Vandalism" and Kincaid Mounds Vandalized.

Petroglyph theft is "worst act of vandalism"

Petroglyph thefts near Bishop stun federal authorities, Paiutes

At least four ancient petroglyphs were cut from cliffs at the Volcanic Tableland and dozens of others damaged in 'the worst act of vandalism ever seen' on federal lands in the area.

By Louis SahagunAncient hunters and gatherers etched vivid petroglyphs on cliffs in the Eastern Sierra that withstood winds, flash floods and earthquakes for more than 3,500 years. Thieves needed only a few hours to cut them down and haul them away.

Federal authorities say at least four petroglyphs have been taken from the site. A fifth was defaced with deep saw cuts on three sides. A sixth had been removed and broken during the theft, then propped against a boulder near a visitor parking lot.

Dozens of other petroglyphs were scarred by hammer strikes and saw cuts.

"The individuals who did this were not surgeons, they were smashing and grabbing," U.S. Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Greg Haverstock said last week as he examined the damage. "This was the worst act of vandalism ever seen" on the 750,000 acres of public land managed by the BLM field office in Bishop.

The theft required extraordinary effort: Ladders, electric generators and power saws had to be driven into the remote and arid high desert site near Bishop. Thieves gouged holes in the rock and sheared off slabs that were up to 15 feet above ground and 2 feet high and wide.

Visitors discovered the theft and reported it to the BLM on Oct. 31. BLM field office manager Bernadette Lovato delivered the bad news to Paiute-Shoshone tribal leaders in Bishop.

"It was the toughest telephone call I ever had to make," Lovato said. "Their culture and spiritual beliefs had been horribly violated. We will do everything in our power to bring those pieces back."Comment:  Another horrible crime against humanity.

The article concludes:Damaging or removing the petroglyphs is a felony. First-time offenders can be imprisoned for up to one year and fined as much as $20,000, authorities said. Second-time offenders can be fined up to $100,000 and imprisoned up to five years.How about multiplying the first-time penalties by five and the second-time penalties by two? That would seem fairer to me.

For more on looting of Native sites, see Kincaid Mounds Vandalized and "Digger" Shows Promote Archaeological Looting.

Kincaid Mounds vandalized

Native Burial Mounds Vandalized in Southern Illinois in Possible Attempt to Steal ‘Grave Goods’The Evansville Courier & Press is reporting that the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Massac County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the recent looting and ATV or truck damage at Kincaid Mounds. The mounds are a series of prehistoric American Indian burial mounds in rural Pope and Massac counties.

Small holes were dug into one of the burial mounds by one or more people looking for what are known as ‘grave goods,’ items that were buried along with the dead. The mounds consist of 105 acres that have been designated a National Historic Landmark and the site is on the National Register of Historic Places of the United States. They are believed to be between 1000 and 700 years old. Kincaid Mounds consist of nine mounds, which include burial mounds and large platform mounds, and portions of a village site. The area represents the earliest part of Southern Illinois to develop intensive, large scale agriculture.

“The criminal disturbance of these human burials in Kincaid Mounds is unconscionable,” Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Director Amy Martin said to the Courier & Press. “We hope to apprehend those who are responsible, which will serve as a deterrent to others who may be considering the desecration of our state’s heritage.”

Authorities are not sure whether any artifacts or human remains were removed. This is not the first time Kincaid Mounds have been targeted—vandals struck in 2008.

There is also evidence that someone drove a four-wheeler or a truck over one of the mounds. All-terrain vehicles are prohibited at the Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site.

If caught, those responsible can face up to three years in prison and fines more than $100,000. Anyone with information on the Kincaid Mounds looting or four wheeler damage is asked to call the Massac County Sheriff’s Department at 618-524-2912 or the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency at 217-558-8973.Comment:  Usually the punishment for these isn't enough, but three years and $100,000 isn't bad. But I'd make that the minimum rather than the maximum. We need to start penalizing people until it hurts badly enough to deter future destruction.

For more on archaeological looting, see "Digger" Shows Promote Archaeological Looting and Looters Don't Go to Jail.

"Digger" shows promote archaeological looting

'Diggers,' 'American Digger' TV Shows Said To Promote Looting Of Archaeological SitesArchaeologists are mounting a campaign against two new cable TV shows that they say encourage and glamorize looting of American archaeological sites.

On 20 March, Spike TV will premiere a new show called American Digger, while a show called Diggers on the National Geographic Channel made its debut 28 February. Both shows "promote and glorify the looting and destruction of archaeological sites," Society for American Archaeology (SAA) President William F. Limp wrote in a message posted earlier this week to the SAA listserv.

The premise of American Digger, which is being hosted by a former professional wrestler, was laid out in a recent announcement by Spike TV. A team of "diggers" will "scour target-rich areas, such as battlefields and historic sites, in hopes of striking it rich by unearthing and selling rare pieces of American history." Similar locales are featured in National Geographic's Diggers. In the second episode, set in South Carolina, Revolutionary War and War of 1812 buttons, bullets, and coins were recovered at a former plantation.

After viewing the first two episodes of Diggers, Iowa's State archaeologist John Doershuk posted a review to the American Cultural Resources Association listserv, in which he lamented: "The most damaging thing, I think, about this show is that no effort was made to document where anything came from or discussion of associations—each discovered item was handled piece-meal."

"It was ironic that they [the show's on-air diggers] are destroying the entire basis of what they're interested in," Doershuk told Science Insider by phone. "These are non-renewable sources. There's only so many of them from these time periods."Comment:  For more on archaeological looting, see Looters Vow to Keep Looting and Pay-to-Dig Archaeology.

Looters don't go to jail

Prison time, felony charges rare for relic looters

By Mike StarkStepping into the afternoon sun last month, Jeanne Redd and her daughter Jericca walked away from a federal courthouse with probation papers--not prison time--for their role in the theft and illegal trafficking of Indian artifacts.

Some, including one of the Salt Lake City's daily newspapers, expressed frustration that the judge didn't come down harder on the duo from southern Utah.

History however says the punishment for the Redds, who pleaded guilty to several felonies, was fairly typical. Despite high-profile arrests and indictments, most people convicted of illegally digging up, collecting and cashing in on artifacts in the United States don't go to prison.

And for those that do, most are in for a year or less, according to a 10-year analysis of prosecutions under a 1979 law meant to punish those that foul the country's cultural resources.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Looters Vow to Keep Looting and Looters Slapped on the Wrist.

Looters vow to keep looting

A town's love of Indian artifacts backfires

By Helen O'NeillIt is a felony to take any artifact, even a fragment, from public land. There are also laws requiring the repatriation of human remains and sacred ceremonial artifacts to tribes.

But laws can't change attitudes or traditions, or make much of a dent in the thriving black market where prehistoric Indian artifacts can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars. And in the vast cliffs and mesas of the Four Corners region, where Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico intersect, where a handful of rangers from the National Parks Service and the Bureau of Land Management oversee millions of acres, enforcement is practically impossible.

Archeologists like Hurst say it's up to them to try and educate people, to change "hearts and minds." But there are many who believe the arrests have only hardened the very hearts and minds that need to change.

"I'm not against them enforcing the laws, but why do they have to kill us at the same time," says Austin Lyman, a case worker at the senior center, who has vehement opinions about the raids, and his own unique way of expressing them:

"Like Jackals from hell they came,
With bullet proof vests and guns,
They came to arrest old men."

Lyman, a burly, ruddy-faced man of 62, penned "Paradise Has Been Raided Again" on June 10, the day of the raids. He reads it aloud, eyes burning, voice cracking with emotion.On the other hand:But many Navajo, who believe that for over a century their ancestors' graves have been looted for private gain, have a very different view.

In his gallery in Bluff, 25 miles south of Blanding, Curtis Yanito delicately polishes a traditional, handcrafted cedar flute as he ponders the past and the people who want to own it.

Soft-spoken and deliberate, the 42-year-old Navajo artist has no sympathy for pot-hunters or collectors or even archeologists. He is impatient with those who argue that digging used to be legal; slavery was once legal, too, he says.

Yanito's gallery is filled with beautifully crafted contemporary pieces--traditional blankets and bowls, sand paintings and jewelry, most of it handmade by Yanito's extended family. There are no prehistoric pots or arrowheads. Yanito wouldn't dream of entering a ruin.

"The cliff dwellings are ALL grave sites and everyone knows that," he says. "The dead should be left alone."Comment:  If this round of arrests wasn't enough to convince the looters to stop looting, no problem. We'll just keep arresting them and throwing their butts into jail until they get the message. If they don't like it, they can drop dead. No, really--they can commit suicide just like the two artifact thieves did.

Lyman's phrase "kill us" apparently is Blanding-speak for "shame us into committing suicide over our sins." Because the two losers who killed themselves are the only ones who died during this sequence of events.

Clearly Lyman is against the feds enforcing the laws, since that's all they did. Like every other hypocrite is Blanding, Lyman wants to continue stealing artifacts without fear of retribution.

For more on the subject, see Blanding's Criminal Culture and Looters "Outraged" Over Indictments.

Below:  "This Aug. 13, 2009 photo shows Austin Lyman, 62, standing next to steps leading to an ancient Indian altar on his property near Blanding, Utah." (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Pay-to-dig archaeology

Pay to Dig, or Pay to Loot?One of the saddest cases was this sort of pay-to-dig operation was that of the “White Mountain Archaeological Research Center.” Also known as the Raven Ruin dig.

Visitors to the Raven Site paid somewhere around 75 dollars a day, and were shown how to dig in neat square holes, even using the metric system. Smart people thought that they were contributing to scientific research, but no one could tell these people that the project was a scam without getting sued.

There are no legal qualifications needed to call yourself an archaeologist. As the excavation took place on private property, the strip mining was legal. The “director” leased the land from a local couple, claiming to be “an archaeologist from Harvard.” To be fair, he had attended a class in archaeology conducted by Harvard, but did not have any sort of degree. That said, the project was legal as long as human remains were not encountered. Under NAGPRA, if human remains are found, all excavation has to stop. Over 100 ancient pueblo rooms were completely striped down to floor levels. In my opinion, given what I’ve seen at 30 similar Puebloan sites, the odds of a single excavation unit at this site not having human remains was about zero.

Pottery sherds and other interesting smaller artifacts from this dig wind up on Ebay every now and then. All parts of a history that can never be recovered.

I was sent to the site to help the Archaeological Conservancy clean up the mess after the whole sad affair ended. the first thing I found in the abandoned “labratory” was a child’s skull in a drawer with other bones, some decorated with the word “human” written in pencil. Several witnesses recognized the handwriting. Years later an anonymous donor sent me a CD from an auction house where the “director” was trying to sell all of the whole vessels at a high-end east coast auction house. I have no idea if he got the hundreds of thousands of dollars he was asking for the collection.Comment:  I don't know if it would work, but it seems like there should be a law against digging up ancient ruins for profit. Ideally any ruins found would become public property.

For more on the subject, see Looting Is Big Business and Artifact Theft = "Organized Crime."

Below:  "A Google Maps view of the Village of Homol'ovi II. With 999 out of 1000 ground floor rooms pot-hunted, this village is probably the most vandalized place in North America."

Looters slapped on the wrist

Mother, daughter get probation for theft of artifacts

By Emiley MorganDespite the prosecutor's recommendation that Jeanne Redd be sentenced to 18 months in prison for collecting and attempting to sell Native American artifacts from federal lands, she was given 36 months of probation. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups took into account the other "consequences suffered" and the seriousness of the crime that had impacts "felt by her and the community."

"This was not a crime of violence, the defendant is of no danger to the community, and there is a need of the defendant for medical, emotional care and the support of family that is significant," Waddoups said.

The judge said that even though collecting the artifacts is a crime, the conduct "if not culturally accepted, has been justified for many years" in the southern Utah area.Comment:  Lynchings were culturally accepted and justified in the South for decades. When federal and state officials finally cracked down on the practice, should they have given the first killers a pass? "These poor lynch mob members didn't know they were doing anything wrong. If they don't shape up in a year or two, we'll get tough with them then."

Uh, no. The judge's "reasoning" is precisely why he should've imposed a real sentence. Namely, to send a message that looting is not culturally acceptable.

For more on the subject, see Looting Is Big Business and Artifact Theft = "Organized Crime."

Below:  "Prominent Blanding, Utah physician James Redd, center, shown here with his wife, Jeanne was found dead of an apparent suicide near his home in Blanding a day after being charged with illegal looting of archaeological artifacts held sacred by Utah's earliest inhabitants."

Looting is big business

Stealing the Past

Recent artifact raids shed light on today’s looting syndicate and the damage it does to New Mexico’s history

By Laura PaskusOver coffee and a hash breakfast approximately a month after the Four Corners arrests, Young recalls the variety of criminals apprehended during earlier investigations: In 1994, federal agents confiscated 11 objects considered sacred by the Mescalero Apache Tribe from Santa Fe’s East-West Trading Company. In another instance, an energy worker would scout northwestern New Mexico’s oil and gas fields for archaeological sites, then return to loot them. After he was charged, he even admitted to using a concrete saw to slice Navajo pictographs from the sandstone bluffs on which they were painted. “Fifteen minutes per panel, he told us,” Young says, “to steal those.”

Then, in the late ’90s, an operation in the Farmington area yielded indictments of a dozen looters. That particular ring was also involved in the drug trade: “The guy who was the methamphetamine dealer was trading with meth heads for artifacts,” Young says. “They would get high, work off their buzz—their high—doing destructive things to the scientific record, trying to recover these artifacts so they could go get high again.”And:“If you were to take the southwestern part of the state, we conservatively estimate that 95 percent of those sites have been damaged—and that’s [by] everything from a shovel to a bulldozer,” Nelson, who now works at the state Historic Preservation Division and is acting coordinator of the state’s SiteWatch program, says. The prehistoric pottery found in that part of the state—Mimbres-style pottery has distinctive black-on-white geometric designs and, oftentimes, human or animal figures—is a high-end item, he says, that appeals to collectors, particularly those in places such as Scandinavia, Sweden, Germany, Japan and China.

The black-market trade in artifacts is a $5 billion to $6 billion a year business, Nelson says—and it makes up a significant chunk of the illegal global market. “Arms is first, illegal drugs is second and artifacts is third.”Comment: For more on the subject, see Artifact Theft = "Organized Crime" and Redds Plead Guilty to Looting.

Looting, exploiting, and misrepresenting

Indian Comics Irregular #185:  Using Indians for Fun and Profit

Looting suicides = "Anasazi sickness"

'Anasazi sickness':  Relic raiders do more than mess with history

Looters also disrespect the dead, trample on tradition and invite bad luck--or worse.

By Brandon Loomis Here in Four Corners Indian Country, though, the cultural riches that federal authorities allege 24 traffickers plundered and peddled from public lands are anything but souvenirs.

"We aren't supposed to be digging up anything like that," Navajo medicine man David Filfred says. "It's the people who lived before us, and how they lived. They had their traditions, which deserve respect."

And disrespect for either human remains or the ancients' belongings brings deadly bad medicine. According to tribal lore, it can lead to bad luck, ill health, even death.

Filfred points to what many here on the Navajo Nation call the "Anasazi sickness" as a factor in the suicides of two men indicted last month on federal charges of illegally trafficking in ancient Puebloan, or Anasazi, artifacts.

"You'll get blacked out. Just faint," he predicts for those who disturb the dead. "It will cause something like, you don't care. Seems like there's no hope."

Other Four Corners cultures report similar spiritual repercussions or "bad energy" for artifact looters. Elders believe bones, pots, amulets and other items buried with the dead--whether today's Navajos or yesterday's faded Puebloan cultures--harbor spirits. These spirits command a wide berth and sicken those who disturb them, Filfred says. The torment may be either physical or mental.

Outsiders may scoff, but believers ask the same deference that other religions command.Comment:  Today's Puebloan cultures probably would say yesterday's Puebloan cultures migrated and changed, not "faded" or disappeared. They believe the previous cultures evolved into today's cultures.

For more on the artifact looting, see Artifact Theft = "Organized Crime" and Redds Plead Guilty to Looting. For more on Native religion in general, see "Primitive" Indian Religion.

Below:  "Medicine man David Filfred, who lives on the Navajo Reservation near Aneth, Utah, believes that ancient Indian artifacts should be left alone not only out of respect for the dead but for one's health. He believes you can get sick from being exposed to bones in gravesites where artifacts are often found." (Al Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Artifact theft = "organized crime"

Rare guilty pleas in artifacts sting

By Howard BerkesSan Juan County, Utah, has what are believed to be the country's greatest concentrations of ancient American Indian ruins and artifacts. The county is bigger than Connecticut and includes skyscraping mountains, desert mesas and steep and narrow canyons that are remote, largely unpopulated and difficult to patrol.

"By using an undercover agent, they've been able to penetrate this ring of professional looters," Michel adds.

The plea agreements signed by Jeanne and Jerrica Redd, and search warrant affidavits describing the alleged digging, collecting and trafficking of others, shows that the artifacts trade in the region is not benign. Some locals have described it as a family-friendly subculture passed down from generation to generation for a century.

"This is not some sort of harmless Sunday picnic arrowhead hunting that's going on," writer David Roberts says. "It's a full scale black market business. It's really organized crime. This goes far beyond being a hobby."Comment:  For more on the subject, see Redds Plead Guilty to Looting and Blanding's Criminal Culture.

Redds plead guilty to looting

Mother, daughter plead guilty in artifacts theft case

By Geoffrey FattahJerrica Redd, 37, entered guilty pleas to one count each of theft of property from tribal lands, excavation of archeological artifacts and transportation of archeological artifacts. According to a plea statement, Redd admitted to traveling to the Hoskinnini area of the Navajo Indian Reservation in April 2008 and taking a "black on red" vessel, seed jar and vase. Two of the items were "substantially buried" and had to be excavated. She then admitted to taking the items to her home in Blanding, where she cleaned and repaired the items, and displayed them in her home. The items, according to court documents were each valued at over $1,000.

Soon after the daughter's plea, Jeanne Redd pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of government property, two counts of theft of tribal property and three counts of trafficking in stolen artifacts.Guilty plea in Native American artifacts crackdown

Jeanne Redd was charged with stealing ancient artifacts from public land. Her husband was a Utah doctor who killed himself after his arrest on similar charges.

By Nicholas RiccardiJeanne Redd and her husband had tangled with authorities before over charges of taking relics from public land. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of grave robbery in 1998 and paid a $10,000 settlement for allegedly digging up artifacts on state property. Authorities said the couple had so many artifacts in their home it took federal agents eight hours to catalog them.

Authorities worked with an antiquities dealer who secretly recorded his conversations with the Redds and other defendants. Court papers said Jeanne Redd showed off an ax, mug, pendant and other items, saying they were taken from either tribal or federal land. She also sold the dealer four sandals taken from federal land.

As part of the terms of the plea, Redd must return all artifacts in her possession as well as relinquish computers and a GPS device that authorities say she used to find them.Feds seize Redds' stolen relics

Artifacts trafficking » Officials say the collection was partly stored and partly on display at the home.

By Brandon LoomisFederal agents and archaeologists rolled two rented moving vans up the brushy knoll to a convicted artifact trafficker's adobe home here Tuesday to confiscate a trove of Puebloan Indian heritage.

They plucked artifacts from the home (and even ancient ornaments sprinkled along the driveway) of Jeanne Redd and her late husband, James Redd, a doctor beloved throughout rural San Juan County who killed himself after his arrest last month.

A team of 20, roughly split between FBI and Bureau of Land Management agents and Interior Department archaeologists, spent all day and into the evening at the Redd home wrapping and boxing artifacts for shipment to BLM offices in Salt Lake City, BLM Special Agent Dan Barnes said.Comment:  Vans full of artifacts...computers and a GPS device...the Redds sound like major-league criminals to me. Book 'em, Danno!

For more on the subject, see Blanding's Criminal Culture and Inside the Tomb Raider's Home.

Below:  "Federal agents and archaeologists walk up the driveway to the Redd home south of Blanding Tuesday to search for and haul away artifacts. The turning over of artifacts was part of a plea deal with Jeanne Redd and federal prosecutors." (Al Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Blanding's criminal culture

Emotions run hot over artifact raids in Utah

Relics uproar

By Nancy LofholmThis small Four Corners community prides itself on being a law-abiding, church and family-oriented, patriotic throwback to more innocent times. So the Fourth of July is a gala of parades, prayers and pyrotechnics where sparkling apple cider is the strongest celebratory beverage.

But this year, the festivities had an angry edge.

Mayor Toni Turk opened with a prayer that included beseeching God to keep Blanding citizens free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The annual melodrama incorporated lyrics about recent raids and seizures of ancient artifacts from Blanding homes. "Legalize Pot" T-shirts, emblazoned with images of ancient ceramic pots, sold out quickly.

Blanding is in an uncharacteristic uproar because the Ancestral Puebloan artifacts that abundantly litter this area—and which have been collected by generations of residents—have become the stuff of nightmares.And:Every rain turns over new items, and residents say they can't add a carport or string a fence line without encountering kiva walls or unearthing baskets and pots.

The 1906 Antiquities Law attempted to preserve such ruins by putting protections on artifact-strewn public lands, but there are many reasons the anti-looting laws had little impact. Blanding residents say their ancestors were paid by museums to find artifacts.

Ted Black said his mother's family used the abundant ancient pottery as its dishware. He said practically every home in Blanding now has china-hutch and mantle displays of artifacts, many of them handed down and others collected during the common practice of Sunday after-church "treasure hunt" outings.

"I'm proud of my little collection," said Blanding resident Wendy Bunting, who still goes out looking for surface pottery pieces and arrowheads.And:Blanding's Edge of the Cedars Museum is trying to educate people about why they shouldn't pick up those items. The museum, which houses an estimated million artifacts confiscated from looters or donated by collectors, has a front room dedicated to explaining the laws and the reasons why, once items are removed without detailed archeological study, they lose their scientific context.

There are glimmers that the message is getting out. Boy Scouts who hold an annual summer camp in Blanding traditionally have dug up planted artifacts to earn their archeology merit badges. Camp director Jed Tate nixed that practice a week after the raids. The Scouts instead gathered in the museum with archeologists to learn about identifying, cataloguing and dating artifacts.Comment:  White privilege is thinking you can ignore the 1906 Antiquities Law because you're "law-abiding, church and family-oriented, patriotic" and taking artifacts is your birthright.

For more on the subject, see Republican Hypocrisy on Looting and Looters "Outraged" Over Indictments.

Below:  "Teri Paul of the Edge of the Cedars Museum in Blanding, Utah, inspects the museum's pottery." (William Woody/Special to The Denver Post)

Inside the tomb raider's home

Artifact-theft suspect to change plea

Crime » Facing seven felonies, Jeanne Redd may have reached deal with prosecutors.

By Patty Henetz A search warrant affidavit unsealed last week includes grainy copies of undercover photos taken in the Redd home during the investigation.

One of the photos shows pots, blankets and other relics piled atop one another in display cases and shelves. Another depicts Jeanne Redd kneeling on the floor showing a ceramic mug to an unidentified man whose face is hidden.

The Redd affidavit says some of the mugs and necklaces--along with the four sandals she showed or sold--came from Indian lands, including the Floating House Ruin in Chinle Wash--which mystery writer Tony Hillerman called Many Ruins Canyon in his novel A Thief of Time.

During multiple visits the Source made to the Redd home in 2007, the affidavit says, Jeanne Redd traded some artifacts for buttons, purportedly from Dark Canyon. She tried to sell for $4,000 a gourd containing a 13-inch shell necklace on its original string.

The Redds have a history of running afoul with the law. In 2003, they agreed to pay the state $10,000 after they were prosecuted criminally for raiding a burial site to settle a $250,000 lawsuit filed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.Comment:  Love it. After all the right-wing whining about the feds persecuting Utah citizens, we see the magnitude of the (alleged) crimes.

Jeanne Redd didn't just pick up a few arrowheads and pottery shards on her innocent walks through private lands.

She has shelves full of items--so many that they're described as "piled up."

The stolen artifacts include mugs, necklaces, and blankets. How much do you have to know if you "accidentally" find a necklace or a blanket on your "innocent" hike? "Let's see...is that museum-quality piece something I should alert an archaeologist about? Or is it something I should take for myself, keep in my home, and proudly display on my shelf?"

Yep, that's a real puzzler, all right. Where are the ethics experts when you need them to answer these tough moral questions?

She was trading and selling items, which proves she was in it for the money. She tried to sell one item for $4,000, which proves she knew the items were valuable.

In short, the right-wing defense of criminal looting is an utter sham. Conservative law-and-order types should be ashamed of their rank hypocrisy.

Below:  "Okay, maybe I knowingly stole valuable Indian artifacts before. But this time I'm innocent, I tell you!"

Republican hypocrisy on looting

Republicans artifacts complaints outrageousOnce again Republicans reveal, through statements by Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, their outrageous hypocrisy by complaining about the police arrests of elderly white people, et al. for looting Indian artifacts. Apparently Hatch and Bennett don't have a problem with white people ripping off the cultural heritage of Native Americans. Nothing in their statements deplored the actual ongoing criminal activity, just the fact that the justice system took action.

Republicans have promoted themselves as the party of "law and order" for decades. What they mean is setting the justice system against the impoverished and people of color to maintain order for their overwhelmingly white constituents.Comment:  Couldn't have said it better myself.

Where were these hypocrites when the United States was breaking treaties and the law to oppress and victimize Native people? Oh, right. They were rooting for the Anglo lawbreakers against the innocent Natives. In other words, they were cheering "the justice system against the impoverished and people of color to maintain order for their overwhelmingly white constituents."

I'm reminded of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, in which he spends a lot of time criticizing government officials for repressing Indians, other minorities, immigrants, workers, et al. Here's a quote from Zinn:[A]t this peaceful demonstration, I was attacked by police mounted on horseback and on foot. Before I knew it, I was clubbed and knocked unconscious. You might say I woke up with a new consciousness. I woke up realizing that things my radical friends had been saying to me were really true, that the police and the government were not detached bystanders, that freedom of speech did not really exist for dissenters, for radicals, for troublemakers. So it gave me a radical view of the United States, a critical view of the role of the state and of the instruments of the state—the police, the Army, and so on—as not being neutral at all in political battles, but being generally against workers and against striking people, against dissenters of all kinds.When was the first time law enforcement officials took the side of the poor huddled masses against the rich white establishment? The forced enrollment of the Little Rock Nine in 1957? Almost 200 years after the Declaration of Independence declared that all (white, property-owning) men are created equal?

Yet here we go again. Conservative officials are squealing like stuck pigs because the government is enforcing the law. Against their own kind, that is. To them the crime isn't looting Indian artifacts. It's arresting people who loot Indian artifacts.

"We can't be criminals. We're upstanding white people just like the Founding Fathers. Call my lawyer at the country club and tell him to do something. Those good-for-nothing Indians are on the warpath again."

As the letter writer said, none of these sniveling conservatives has addressed the actual crimes. None of them has said, "The methods of arrest were too harsh even though the arrests themselves were valid." No, the looters are trying to play their "Get Out of Jail Free" cards. "We're white so you can't arrest us for harming Indians."

For more on the subject, see Natives Against Artifact Thieves and Looters "Outraged" Over Indictments.

Below:  "When I do it to you, it's the law. When you do it to me, it's an outrage."

Natives against artifact thieves

Native Americans Speak Out Against Four Corners Artifact Thefts

By Tim CiescoAs the investigation into the nation's largest ever theft of archeological objects moves forward, local Native American tribes are speaking out against what the alleged thieves did and and are providing insight into what artifacts mean to their people.

Roland McCook is a member of the Uncompahgre Ute Tribe here in Western Colorado. He says for the Utes and many other tribes across the West, objects like pottery, headdresses, and other traditional art take on special meaning.

"These were hand made specifically for a certain purpose and maybe they were left out there on purpose," said McCook. "Most of them are made so they could survive."

So when he learned that a group of 24 people from Colorado and Utah was stealing artifacts from the Four Corners region and selling them illegally, he says he was deeply offended.And:But even if the Anasazis and other tribes who live in the Four Corners area get their artifacts back, McCook says so much has already been lost. He says many tribes put power into their artifacts and believe they contain spirits that serve important purposes for the people.

"What do you do after those spirits have been discovered and released back into the atmosphere?" said McCook. "Perhaps they weren't meant to be there."A comment from a Native woman named Wazi received via e-mail:The people of Blanding seem to be put out that some of their residents have been caught robbing Native American gravesites, etc.--they just refuse to understand those places are sacred, as sacred as THEIR cemeteries, mausoleums, churches. Would they be upset if we decided to raid them, dig them up, steal what has been buried or placed in them? Wonder how they would feel if we stole and sold their revered ancestors' bones, "sacred treasures," jewelry, etc. on eBay or elsewhere?Comment:  There are no Indians called "the Anasazis" who live (present tense) in the Four Corners area. But their descendants live in the area as members of various Pueblo tribes. I think we know what McCook means despite his terminology.

Blanding's people claim they didn't rob any graves. They just "innocently" picked up artifacts they found lying on the ground. But I think we know what Wazi means too.

It's good to finally get a Native perspective on this issue. McCook makes some points that aren't obvious to non-Natives (including me). One, Indians may have placed artifacts in certain positions for a reason. Two, artifacts may have a spirit or spirits associated with them.

In other words, an object doesn't have to be on an altar or in a museum for Indians to consider it special. Removing such objects may be similar to robbing a church, tomb, or other revered place even if it isn't exactly the same.

And let's not forget the more obvious cultural offense: robbing Indians and the rest of us of America's history. Every artifact is a clue to the past, and every theft helps erase that past. Indians are invisible in our society precisely because Americans have taken away their lands and cultures.

For more on the subject, see:

Stupid graverobber tricks
Indiana Jones, tomb raider
Yale to return stolen artifacts

Below:  "I don't see any name tag on this artifact. Therefore, it's mine if I take it."

Looters "outraged" over indictments

Anti-fed fury sweeps through Blanding after artifact sting

By Christopher SmartEven before news late Thursday of James Redd's death, residents of this town south of San Juan County's Blue Mountains were furious about a federal sting that netted some of Blanding's prominent citizens for allegedly trafficking in antiquities.

"Everybody in Blanding is outraged," said 69-year-old Joy Holliday. "Why aren't they out stopping things that hurt people."

The undercover operation--which took two years and recovered more than 250 American Indian artifacts allegedly swiped from federal and tribal lands--yielded federal indictments against 24 people, most of whom are from Blanding.

In the Four Corners area, pre-Columbian ruins, potsherds, arrowheads and other relics are nothing out of the ordinary. Thousands of sites dot the landscape around Blanding.

"You can't walk two miles in any direction without running into an Anasazi site," Holliday said. "In San Juan County, [collecting relics] is a hobby for many people."Residents decry artifact-theft indictments

By Aaron FalkThe remnants of a people who lived in the cliffs surrounding this small southeastern Utah town are not hard to find here.

Stumbling across pieces of pots and arrowheads is commonplace, locals say.

So, too, is keeping them.

With the federal indictment of 24 people, most of them from Blanding, accused of taking ancient American Indian artifacts from public lands in the Four Corners area, people here say officials have made much ado about nothing.

"A majority of homes probably do have artifacts," said Holly Shumway, whose in-laws were among those indicted. "I don't know how they pick and choose the few that got arrested. It's just so common in this town to have things like that. It's not like just those 24 people have been doing this. These people have just been doing what everyone does."

Mitch Barnett, a Blanding resident, recalls his grandfather receiving Anasazi blankets as pay for work he did. "Nobody thought it was a big deal," he said.

Sandy Strom, whose husband, Aubry Patterson, is accused of stealing artifacts from caves in the La Sal Mountains and selling them to an undercover dealer, said she has a display case full of American Indian artifacts.

Otherwise, they would just be on the ground, she said.

"We weren't out grave-robbing," Strom said outside a Moab courthouse.

It's a sentiment shared among a number of people in the area.

"That's the word I just can't stand: stealing," Shumway said. "Anyone can walk out their back door and probably find something. Most of the houses in this town are built on old Indian ruins. It's everywhere. It's not like these people are going into someone's home or a museum and taking these artifacts. They're just outside on the ground."

But items taken from federal land could mean up to 10 years in prison for the "collectors."

The crime is not about property being destroyed, said Blanding archaeologist Winston Hurst, it's about preserving a priceless record of history.

"It's not about who gets to own something," Hurst said. "It's about the archaeological record. It's the only record we have of the huge majority of people who have ever lived. It's tremendously fragile, and it's being looted on a worldwide scale. They rip the guts out and leave us with nothing but objects to sell on eBay."

Whether it's pocketing an arrowhead or pillaging a ruin, "the net effect is, it all destroys evidence," said the Bureau of Land Management's Canyon Country district manager Shelley Smith.Comment:  Shumway can't stand the word "stealing"? I can't stand her "stealing" attitude.

"It's not like these people are going into someone's home"? Blanding's people are living on Indian land and going into Indian homes. They're taking artifacts that belong to Indian people or the American people as a whole.

So the looters don't think taking Indian artifacts is a big deal? Try walking into a Smithsonian museum and taking some old Euro-American artifacts. Let us know how it goes.

While you're at it, try lifting the Declaration of Independence from the National Archives or the Liberty Bell from Independence Hall? Why not, since they're only a piece of paper and a hunk of metal? They don't have any intrinsic value.

Oh, you say those are different? Why...because white men created them? That's kind of the point, isn't it? White men say everything they do is important while everything anyone else does is unimportant.

And spare us the sob stories about the crybabies didn't know they were violating the law. The media has reported often on the looting of Indian artifacts. As usual, ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Besides, these people obviously aren't sorry for what they've done. They're fudging the difference between artifacts taken 50 years ago and artifacts taken recently. Between artifacts taken from private land and artifacts taken from public land. That they're trying to obscure the facts suggests that they know they're guilty.

I wouldn't be surprised if most of these people are conservatives and Mormons. No doubt they bray about the "rule of law" whenever some minority gets thrown into jail for a minor offense. Meanwhile, they're cheating on their taxes, dumping pollutants into the water, and stealing Indian artifacts.

For more on the subject, see America's Exceptional Values.

Below:  A worthless old scrap of paper. Useful for lining a birdcage if you find it on the ground.