Shielding the treasures of our past

By Andy Piper | July 2, 2009 | 4:00 PM

Photoillustration/Andy Piper/Rocky Mountain Independent Dr. James D. Redd, of Blanding, Utah, indicted along with his wife Jeanne and 22 other people June 10 for allegedly trafficking in protected archaeological artifacts, was found in his car two days later dead of carbon monoxide poisoning, an apparent suicide.

Dr. James D. Redd, 60, of Blanding, Utah, and another man committed suicide after they, Redd's wife, Jeanne, and 21 other people were indicted under federal antiquities laws in June. (RMI photo illustration by Andy Piper)

It doesn’t sound like the stuff of life and death: the Antiquities Act of 1906, the Historic Sites Act of 1935 and the Archaeological Resource Protection Act of 1979 — disdainfully called “that Jimmy Carter law” by some detractors.

But two men committed suicide in June after being indicted for allegedly breaking those or related laws in the Four Corners region.

Dr. James D. Redd, 60, a medical doctor from Blanding, Utah, was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in his car June 12. Steven L. Shrader, 56, of Santa Fe, was found June 19 with two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the chest in his mother’s hometown of Shabbona, Ill., authorities have said.

Twenty-two other suspects, including Vern and Marie Crites, of Durango, are charged with illegally excavating, selling or buying historic and prehistoric American Indian artifacts.

“Let this case serve notice to anyone who is considering breaking these laws and trampling our nation’s cultural heritage, that the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Justice, and the federal government will track you down and bring you to justice,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said while announcing the indictments in Salt Lake City on June 10.

The raids on suspects’ homes by federal, state and local law enforcement officers has sparked controversy, especially after the suicides were reported. Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett have called for the Justice Department to investigate the conduct of the raids.

The same series of laws that led to the indictments also has been the driving force behind the growth of the field of consulting archaeology, which now employs more trained archaeologists in the U.S. than museums, universities and government agencies combined. (See related story.)

Because of the wording of these laws, a single ancient pot or tool, or even a pottery shard, may be enough to put them into motion.

Some of the laws governing archaeological antiquities in the U.S.:

1906 — Antiquities Act: Prescribes penalties for “any person who shall appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity, situated on lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States.” Establishes procedures for issuing permits for archaeological study. Gives the president power to proclaim National Monuments.

1935 — Historic Sites Act: Establishes “a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings, and objects of national significance”; directs the secretary of the Interior to survey historic and archaeological sites, and secure and preserve drawings, plans, photographs and other data from these sites.

1966 — National Historic Preservation Act: Requires that “the head of any Federal agency having direct or indirect jurisdiction over a proposed Federal or federally assisted undertaking . . . take into account the effect of the undertaking on any district, site, building, structure, or object that is included in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register.” This is the key law requiring archaeological survey and protection of sites and objects affected by development, including energy exploration, highway building or anything else that might disturb the ground.

1979 — Archaeological Resource Protection Act: Prohibits the unauthorized excavation and removal of archaeological resources on federal lands as well as the unlawful sale, purchase or exchange of such resources. This is the law behind the June arrests in the Four Corners region.

1990 — Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act: Requires that all American Indian human remains, funerary objects, objects of cultural patrimony and sacred objects must be repatriated to Indian tribes.

Source: http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/fhpl/contents.htm

Further reading:

Bureau of Land Management news release on indictments

Durango Herald: Locals’ alleged role in artifacts case detailed

Los Angeles Times: Artifacts suicide

Durango Herald: Trafficking suspect found dead

The Salt Lake Tribune: Utah senators seek investigation

Categories: Region