Every year, there are two or three stories published in the newspaper about someone finding an amazing historical treasure of some sort at someplace like a flea market in Florida.
Could my find land me in jail?
If not, should it?
And perhaps you'd better look around in your own house.
Could that old arrowhead or pottery shard in the kitchen drawer be evidence of vandalism and smuggling that makes you guilty?
***
There is an interesting and emotional debate, and of course political too, going on about the arrests made during the past week regarding illegally obtained artifacts taken from federal and tribal lands in the Four Corners region.
Most of the arrests and suspects questioned were in Utah when federal agents raided a number of homes, many of them owned by influential members of their respective communities.
One was a doctor who ended up committing suicide.
Several were elderly and above the age of 70, including a 78-year-old New Mexico man who had his home raided in the Santa Fe area.
What makes this case so interesting is that, because so many of the suspects are either elderly, well-to-do, influential and/or white, they and their political representatives are demanding to know why federal authorities stormed their homes and treated them like dangerous criminals.
Politicians and attorneys already are lined up and making charges of overkill by the authorities, claiming that battering rams and SWAT teams smashing into
People like U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, and their influential constituents, have demanded that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder explain.
He did.
"The arrests that were done were felony arrests and as best as I can tell, they wee done in accordance with the FBI and Bureau of Land Management standard operating procedures," Holder responded.
There's an old saying that you never draw a sword to kill a mosquito.
There's also an old saying that you can be guilty by association.
***
The targets of these raids and the evidence sought go beyond that piece of pottery shard you found in your backyard.
U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said the arrests in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico were carried out in a normal fashion meant to protect the federal agents doing their job.
"This case involves significant collections of Indian artifacts taken from public and tribal lands by excavators, sellers and collectors, including priceless artifacts sacred to Native Americans, not trash and trinkets' as some have suggested," the Associated Press quoted Tolman.
More than two years were put into this investigation, and one example of the evidence is the claim that during 2007 and 2008, a confidential source paid more than $335,000 for 256 stolen artifacts.
Authorities knew they were dealing with large-scale and upscale dealers and buyers, and all it takes is one gun used by any nervous or angry collector or seller to pose a threat to arresting officers.
Not everyone is going to politely answer the door and inform a group of meddlesome investigators there to ransack the home that, "Sure, come on in and look all you want, but I'm friends with Orrin Hatch."
Police quickly will tell you that their years of training have proven that a show of force often is the best weapon to prevent the need for any use of force.
Nevertheless, the innocent-until-proven-guilty homeowners and suspects say the heavily armed raids weren't necessary.
***
So now, about your own situation:
Is it right or wrong to pick up a piece of ancient pottery from the ground and keep it, or to accept an ancient artifact as a gift without a certificate of legal sale?
It's one thing for a quizzical journalist like me to ask; I'm paid to ask questions.
Hey, I ordered the Certified Angus Burger at Three Rivers Restaurant the other day, and I asked to see the certification.
Sure it was just to have fun with our young table server, but the point is, we often live here in the great Southwest with a sense of, "that's just the way it is."
Collecting pottery shards, old pottery bowls, arrowheads, rugs, weapons or any other Old West artifacts are a way of life for many, and there are plenty of livingroom displays to prove it.
Yet, others such as historians, preservation supporters and most certainly American Indians trying desperately to protect and save their cultural ancestry are emotionally adamant about the need to respect what needs to be left alone or properly shared in a setting such as a museum for all to see, learn from and appreciate.
It is an interesting moral debate, not just a legal one.
Everyone in this dilemma does seem to seek one thing in common: respect.
Perhaps if everything was approached with that practice in mind, we'd have fewer questions and more answers.
Most certainly, we'd have more shared treasures.
Troy Turner is the editor of The Daily Times. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 450, Farmington, N.M., 87499; or at tturner@daily-times.com.
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