Obsessive and Destructive Artifact Thieves???

[tomclark]

People of the Dirt, Part Two: The Obsessive and Destructive Artifact Thieves - ICTMN.com

Sorry for double post of this link. NewnanMan posted this previously. These posts about our hobby get buried under "Look what I found" posts. This IS the place to discuss this.....and BTW get the heck off FB and YouTube!! JMHOP boom.

 

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[GatorBoy]

I'd like to point out that none of this has to do with good folks walling fields or creeks.

 

[Charl]

"The main reason for collecting Native artifacts given by Arrowheads.com, however, points to a more visceral urge among enthusiasts and provides an entre to the darker side of the hobby. “Enthusiasts are attracted to the strange world,” tops the list of motivations for the collector."

This statement makes no sense whatsoever. "Enthusiasts are attracted to the strange world" might as well be gibberish. I'm an enthusiastic surface hunter. What "strange world" is it that I'm attracted to?? Also, as if it needs to be said, nobody at arrowheads.com condones illegal looting. I don't believe any of the artifact forums condone illegal looting or any other unethical activity. But the bottom line in the above description of collectors' motivation is that the statement itself is nonsensical so far as I can see. My number one motivation for seeking out arrowheads: it's a strange world and I like strangeness. Huh?!?!

 

[Charl]

"Many tribal people maintain that the practice reflects not only a deep cultural hegemony of European conquest and entitlement over indigenous peoples but also demonstrates a peculiar urge to accumulate that reflects contemporary acquisitive culture. “It’s about greed and the same sense of entitlement that led to the depopulation of indigenous peoples from North America in the name of Manifest Destiny,” says Henrietta Mann, Cheyenne, who is president of the Cheyenne and Arapaho College in Oklahoma."

There is something called "collector mentality". It takes a dedicated collector to understand that. Let's say you collect stone axes. Periodically, you will have the urge to add to your collection. You will, in other words, need a fix! Tired of the nice axe you bought in January, time to get another. Acquisitive. That is an accumulative impulse. But, does anyone here honestly feel they have entitlement over Native American artifacts? Some kind of moral imperative that makes those rocks in the ground the white man's and the white man's alone? We conquered the hemisphere, so the artifacts are now rightfully ours by Manifest Destiny? Give me a break and stop inventing motivations that exist only in someone's imagination.

 

[intensecrasher]

My moms great great grandmother was a Lakota Sioux. She was abducted by settles and my family came into existence. As horrible as that sounds it is why I am a collector. I want to learn everything I can about the people who were a part of my family and all Native Americans. I want to preserve their history for future generations to enjoy. No one learns anything from artifacts that are buried in the ground. Nothing I have ever found is for sale and will NEVER be for sale as long as I am alive and my kids are alive! The idiots who go out and pick up arrowheads for the sole purpose of selling them are the problem!

 

[Cosmo]

I collect because it kicks a$$ and I enjoy it no deep hidden meaning for me. I bet those who made them thousands of years ago would be proud of the fact what they made is hunted and treated like a treasure.

 

[Red Earth]

I collect because it kicks a$$ and I enjoy it no deep hidden meaning for me. I bet those who made them thousands of years ago would be proud of the fact what they made is hunted and treated like a treasure.

I couldn't agree more about the creator being proud.

 

[Wyoming Valley Relics]

There right . There ancestors artifacts would have been better honored if i left them in the fields and let the plows smash em till they were nothing but dust. I should have never dug for relics , I should have let the top soil diggers just scoop em up and ship em out so they could be honored somewhere they never were.They are right , i would never want the things i never knew my ancestors could make or own dug up so others could know what they were capable of. Damn us all for liking the past and marveling at things we'll never know the true meaning of.

If i had nothing but this article to go by i would swear this doesn't happen in Europe.

 

[newnan man]

It's just my opinion but I always felt that a Native American would probably be ok with the thought of some of his points being displayed for all to see instead of forever buried in the dirt. I mean once were gone all that is left to remember us by are the things we leave behind. No one collects unless they really admire and appreciate the work done by these ancient stone knappers.

 

[NCPeaches]

I'd like to point out that none of this has to do with good folks walling fields or creeks.

Thanks GatorBoy, I was starting to feel guilty.

 

[jamey]

the only thing that i do not like about the ones who collecting artifacts are the ones who will get them from graves.too me they are the worst thing to worry about making looking for arrowheads a bad thing.meth users do alot worse things then surface hunt,so id rather have them out there not hurting anyone besides themselves and maybe the beauty of nature will get them off that stuff.

 

[NCPeaches]

I was told by one of the archeologists of the Berry site that when you run across what appears to be a grave site in NC that you have to call the local sheriff's department to investigate it and if they determine it's native american you have to leave it intact and cover it back up even if it's on your property. They said it's Federal law. I only search the creek but if a skull or human bones washed up it would freak me out.

 

[intensecrasher]

I was told by one of the archeologists of the Berry site that when you run across what appears to be a grave site in NC that you have to call the local sheriff's department to investigate it and if they determine it's native american you have to leave it intact and cover it back up even if it's on your property. They said it's Federal law. I only search the creek but if a skull or human bones washed up it would freak me out.

That is exactly right. In Iowa it is illegal to dig up burial sites even if you own the property. If you are doing construction, digging, or whatever and come across human remains you have to call the county coroner.