Cultural Defacement: Dealing with Looting and Vandalism of Native American Cultural Sites




Written by: Nora Smith


https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-general/vandalism-ancient-sites-really-cares-anyway-009749



           Looting and vandalism takes place at archaeological sites around the world and has been a consistent problem even before the field of archaeology existed. People often have looted throughout history in order to find valuable materials and items to be sold off to make a profit. In the modern era, by looting graves or historical and archaeological sites, people are usually trying to find antiquities to sell at auctions for museums and collectors or within the black market (khanacademy.org). Vandalism can take place in many different forms, such as the destruction or removal of sacred or archaeological items and defacement of sites with archaeological or cultural significance. This has been a problem for many years, but still recently there have been a multitude of issues regarding looting and vandalism at Native American Indian archaeological and cultural heritage sites. These instances of vandalism are not only disrespectful to Native tribes and their beliefs and customs, but are contributing also to erasing the context of archaeological sites and artifacts that can have detrimental effects when it comes to interpreting and collecting important information on the history of pre- and post-European contact with Native Americans in the United States.
            Much of the history of Native Americans in United States has been lost due to a lack of record keeping when European contact first took place and the huge loss of lives of Natives to disease and genocide, sometimes erasing the history of entire tribes. Now, in the modern era, this history is still being lost through looting and vandalism of Native archaeological and culturally relevant sites. For instance, the Bears Ears region in Utah is especially vulnerable to these issues, as it covers a huge amount of area (up to 1.9 million acres) is said to contain more than 100,000 cultural and archaeological sites (Rowland-Shea, 2016). Because of Bears Ears size and significance, it has become a popular tourist attraction, and this heavy foot traffic often comes hand in hand with looting and vandalism (Bigelow, 2019). Looters will often target gravesites for valuable items that are buried with the dead and toss the human bones aside, and vandalism such as damaging ancient art, leaving behind graffiti, and off-road vehicles causing damage takes place at sites like Bears Ears as well (Rowland-Shea, 2016). These damages and disregard for the importance of both bodies and artifacts can hurt Native Americans due to the lack of respect towards their culture along with erasing the possibility of learning historical information.
            Laws have been passed to try to curb these crimes committed against Native American history and culture. The Antiquities Act of 1906 is relevant to these issues, and it “authorizes the penalization of anyone who destroys or damages historic ruins on public lands, or excavates ruins, monuments, or antiquities on land owned or controlled by the federal government” (khanacademy.org). The Antiquities Act was later supplemented by The Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, which “governs the excavation of archaeological sites on Federal and Indian lands in the United States, and the removal and disposition of archaeological collections from those sites” and “aims to secure, for the present and future benefit of the American people, the protection of archaeological resources and sites on Federal and tribal lands” (khanacademy.org, USDA.gov). Another important law passed for protecting Native American culture and artifacts was the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) passed in 1990 which “includes provisions for unclaimed and culturally unidentifiable Native American cultural items, intentional and inadvertent discovery of Native American cultural items on Federal and tribal lands, and penalties for noncompliance and illegal trafficking” (USDA.gov). Although these laws are in place to curb crimes such as looting and vandalizing archaeological and culturally significant sites, there are many issues still at play. For example, if land is privately owned by someone and they find artifacts on their own land, they are legally allowed to sell it and make a profit off it for themselves (Bigelow, 2019). There is also the issue of figuring out and apprehending whoever committed the crimes on these sites. Often, culturally significant sites are understaffed, lacking in a strong force of forest rangers or federal law enforcement. For example, the Bears Ears region only has four federal law enforcement rangers, each patrolling an average of 1 million acres (Rowland-Shea, 2016), so it would be difficult to catch most criminals in the act of vandalism or looting.
            Looting and vandalism is an ongoing problem with Native American cultural sites in the United States. According to BYU assistant archeology professor Michael Searcy, looting an artifact can result in the loss of up to 80 percent of the information that could’ve been known of the artifact if it were found in its original context, so context is very important to archaeological inference of history (Bigelow, 2019). Not only does it hurt the study of history in the United States altogether, but it hurts the members of Native tribes as well because it can impact connections they may have had with their ancestors and their own personal tribal history. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service do have recommendations for how individuals can try to “protect the past” including tips such as “report looting and vandalism to Federal land management authorities or your local sheriff”, “tread lightly when visiting archaeological sites”, and “treat remains of past cultures with respect” (USDA.gov), but there are other strides that need to be taken as well. Sites such as Bears Ears should be given national monument status so that they can have more funding to hire more staff to patrol the area and stop looting and vandalism before it takes place and causes irreversible damage (Rowland-Shea, 2016). Organizations such as the National Park Service and SAFE provide information and education on preventing looting and the dangers of looting (khanacademy.org), but educational efforts most likely often need to be spread more widely and thoroughly to those who visit these sites. Educational efforts should include the spread of knowledge on Native American culture in general, not solely about the dangers and consequences of looting and vandalism. People must be educated on where they themselves stand and where the Native population of the United States stand in regard to the aftereffects of crimes such as looting and vandalism of Native cultural sites. Without any awareness of the importance of these sites and the artifacts within them to the Natives themselves or the history of the United States, it is difficult for some people to realize how bad these actions truly could be. There are many strides that must and should be taken to protect these sites, artifacts, and graves, but awareness of concepts such as cultural relativism could be the first step in that long process.


Sources

“Archaeological Resources Protection.” USDA.gov. Accessed March 11, 2020. https://www.fs.fed.us/lei/archeological-resources-protection.php


Bigelow, Sam. 2019. “Vandalism, theft threaten Utah historical sites.” The Daily Universe. Accessed March 11, 2020. https://universe.byu.edu/2019/02/04/looting-vandalism-disrespects-culture-erases-context-1/

“Cultural heritage at risk: United States.” Khan Academy. Accessed March 11, 2020. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/special-topics-art-history/arches-at-risk-cultural-heritage-education-series/endangered-heritage-the-americas/a/cultural-heritage-at-risk-united-states

Rowland-Shea, Jenny. 2016. “Bears Ears Cultural Area: The Most Vulnerable U.S. Site for Looting, Vandalism, and Grave 


Robbing.” Center for American Progress. Accessed March 11, 

2020. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2016/06/13/139344/bears-ears-cultural-area-the-most-vulnerable-u-s-site-for-looting-vandalism-and-grave-robbing/



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