Civilians pitch in to preserve artifacts

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Civilians pitch in to preserve artifacts
   

09 February 2010

http://www.inyoregi ster.com/ content/view/ 121440/27/

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The ARPA Protection group is complied of law enforcement personnel and tribal members from up and down the Owens Valley that will be collaborating to prevent destruction and desecration of Native cultural sites, but to investigate and prosecute violators if necessary.
 

There's going be a new posse in town. This group of archaeological detectives will be searching for looters of Native American sites and keeping a close eye out for anyone who desecrates cultural and religious areas.

The new Tribal CSI group will be the Archaeological Resource Protection Act group, or ARPA, comprised of tribal members from Big Pine, Lone Pine and Bishop, as well as local law enforcement and archaeologists from local Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Inyo County Sheriff's Department.

In October the Bishop Paiute Tribe hosted an Archaeological Law enforcement class that was well attended by 32 participants, including locals and members of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma as well as those from the U.S. Army and National Park Service.

Theresa Stone, Bishop Paiute Tribe historic preservation officer said Thursday that the locals that have completed the class are forming a group so that all of these agencies can work together to cover all grounds of an investigation of a disturbed historic site.

Stone explained the training as being part classroom, and part field work that included trained officers detaining and questioning a mock suspect.

After completion of the class participants were given certificates and are now considered to be expert witnesses for court cases involving cultural heritage sites or artifact damage or removal.

The classroom portion of the class included ways on how to successfully prosecute looters, collectors and traffickers. Stone explained this is where the newly formed group will come in. Law enforcement agencies collaborating with the archaeologists and detective teams to try and obtain as much information about a site and its damages and bring that data into court.
There were also presentations of two important cases, one in Lassen National Forest and one in the Manti-LaSal National Forest in Utah.

The Manti-LaSal case was one of the biggest recently reported raids of artifact traffickers. A two year investigation ended in June 2009, resulting in the detention of two dozen suspects in the theft and sale of more than 250 Native American artifacts from the Four Corners area, including ancient baby blankets, stone pipes, seed jars, digging sticks, pots, even a pre-Columbian menstrual pad. This investigation was an off-shoot of a nine year investigation into crimes related to methamphetamine addicts who sell the artifacts to support their habits, according to the Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs called the artifacts "priceless."

The investigative process is handled just like the crime scene that it is. Stone explained that the class taught basic forensic techniques such as searching the scene for tracks or other distinguishing marks that a looter may have left behind. This includes participants learning how to make plaster molds of footprints or vehicle or horse tracks.

Investigations do not always stem from reports and accounts of a looted or desecrated site, but can also come from a keen eye.

Stone explained that one scenario she herself has come across and one discussed at the class, was what to do when catching or suspecting someone in the act of digging up these historic artifacts for their personal gain.

She said she has come across trucks before with shovels and screens, obvious looters, and in the past she said she was hesitant about what to do. Now she knows to simply try and collect as much information from the scene and persons as possible and proceed to the proper authorities.

During the outdoor crime scene practical exercise, lead trainer for the class Martin McAllister of Archaeological Resource Investigations and Company, a division of the U.S. Cultural Resource Management Division, played the role of suspected looter.
McAllister was detained and questioned by officers, while other participants documented the damage done and collected artifacts and other evidence.

Stone said McAllister was playing the role to a tee, he was wearing a "I love to dig!" T-shirt, nervous and jittery and had a collection of signs placed by land managers telling the public not to collect artifacts from the area.

"Collecting the signs is pretty common," said Stone.
The signs are there for a reason; one to protect the artifacts and resource, the other is to protect unsuspecting collectors. The maximum penalty for collecting or disturbing a rock art or burial site is up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine as well as forfeiture of vehicles and tools used in the collecting.

Stone said the fact that there are eight new detectives up and down the Owens Valley will deter looters and desecrators of sacred sites.

Many more eyes are watching you (looters) now and the watchers know what to do if you are caught," McAllister wrote in a letter to Stone.