This is so sad...

[dixieintn]

and casts such a bad light on artifact hunters. I am wondering how it will affect our chances of getting landowners to give permission to hunt here in middle Tennessee.

5,000-Year-Old Indian Burial Ground Looted - Cheatham County News Story - WSMV Nashville

[joyce]

That is sad Dixie, We had 2 guys rob a grave in the Albany mounds near where I live, the law was looking for them, and they were stupid enough to take a skull and show it to people in a bar where they were drinking, so of course they got caught and both were sent to prison.
It really did not cause any of the land owners around here to stop letting people walk their plowed fields, so hopefully what happened down there will not affect the surface hunting either. Joyce

[eddies]

Its sad the things people do sometimes to make a buck

[Flyjunkie]

That is Ragingly disgusting...

I've thought often that once a Grave Robber is found guilty, the local officials should bring in a Back how and Bulldoze up the offender's Grand parents' graves... May seem very extreme, but it might drive home the message loud and Clear.....

I Apologize if my views offend Anyone here abouts.. but I think that at certain times radical punishment is in order....

[Bobby]

It is sad when people dig in known grave sites but to be honest with everyone that looked more like occupation mounds to me. With all of the shell laying around it looks like a trash dump instead of a burial.

[highsierra]

Not so long ago, if you have collected for more than three decades, disturbing old Indian graves was an accepted part of the collecting fraternity. Construction sites were great places to find artifacts. Many hundreds were opened and scattered in the name of progress, with little or no thought of their significance. In the past couple of decades, when Native Americans finally received recognition, usually through casino activities, and became politically active, did they finally begin to recognize the importance of "ancestors" final resting places. I have witnessed mounds leveled and human remains wantonly scattered, and no tribal member so much as caring for the intrusion of the graves. Now, if an "arrowhead" is found on a construction site all work is stopped until a survey can be completed and the local tribal members are satisfied that nothing harmful has befallen their "ancestors". Sorry, but the vast majority of it is politically and monetarily motivating.

[rmartin]

Originally Posted by highsierra

Not so long ago, if you have collected for more than three decades, disturbing old Indian graves was an accepted part of the collecting fraternity. Construction sites were great places to find artifacts. Many hundreds were opened and scattered in the name of progress, with little or no thought of their significance. In the past couple of decades, when Native Americans finally received recognition, usually through casino activities, and became politically active, did they finally begin to recognize the importance of "ancestors" final resting places. I have witnessed mounds leveled and human remains wantonly scattered, and no tribal member so much as caring for the intrusion of the graves. Now, if an "arrowhead" is found on a construction site all work is stopped until a survey can be completed and the local tribal members are satisfied that nothing harmful has befallen their "ancestors". Sorry, but the vast majority of it is politically and monetarily motivating.

This is quite right! As hard as to believe Indian Burials have been destroyed for centuries. If you look closely at pictures of old collections (Who's Who included ), you will see skulls in a lot of display cases. Fortunately, opinions have changed and the collecting community disdains the practice. Ray

[mootsman]

It wasn't all that way. I was brought up in a farming area where there were mounds and piles of rocks that were thought to be "Indian Graves." Of course the rocks were piled by settlers clearing the land but locals and my family thought they were graves. My point? I was told to not disturb them and respect the dead. period. And that was 50 years ago. There were no tribes in the area -- no Native Americans at all that I know of.
BTW, this is in the deep south and I was told the same thing about slave grave yards. Don't knock over the field stones and don't walk on the depressions. My folks weren't "enlightened" liberals -- just working class and farm folks who held these beliefs.

I spent 10 years getting a cemetery containing the remains of 20,000 mental patients on the Federal Register of Historic Places -- people who were buried without a name --so maybe I'm a bit sensitive. However, I don't care what the cultural context is, what the time period is, what prevailing attitudes were, what the tribal affiliation is, what the monetary value is, what the politics are -- human remains should be afforded dignity and respect.

Pardon the rant.

[Flyjunkie]

Originally Posted by joyce

That is sad Dixie, We had 2 guys rob a grave in the Albany mounds near where I live, the law was looking for them, and they were stupid enough to take a skull and show it to people in a bar where they were drinking, so of course they got caught and both were sent to prison.
It really did not cause any of the land owners around here to stop letting people walk their plowed fields, so hopefully what happened down there will not affect the surface hunting either. Joyce

Reminds me of the chumps, who did night time digging up of Indian graves in Patricks Point State park just North of Eureka, CA. there's a Yurok Burial site there and it's Known.. well anyway these a$$holes stupidly Videoed themselves diggin up the Graves at Night and then posted their Crimes on Youtube??!?!?!? the Officials nailed the scum from their Posted Videos..

[OhRockhead]

We've had that problem in my area a couple of times and a few have been caught and some not. There was a burial site discovered last year not 15 miles from me that was plundered. I agree that something has to be done about this, but on the same hand, I feel that if the local government steps in to address this problem its going to eventually be the demise of hunting/ collecting....period. I don't think it needs to go without some kind of policing, I just think all options should be looked at before making a decision on how to handle it.
Personally, I would'nt even consider desecrating a gravesite or mound, no matter what I would find. I'll take my chances in the fields, rivers and creeks and cherish what items I do find. Not messing with someones buried ancestors.