Home > News > Headlines

Print   Subscribe

Crosscut: Meth use linked to Indian artifact theft
Monday, October 13, 2008
Filed Under: Environment

"In the old Northwest you could literally reach out and touch history wherever you went. Everyone could be an Indiana Jones. But now, relic hunting is pretty much a no-no. It ruins potentially important archaeological evidence. Findings on pubic lands are considered theft and may violate various laws designed to protect ecosystems and Native American rights. Sometimes, it may be downright grave robbing.

Many people are simply unaware of the laws. Others are fully aware, but artifact looting is their business. There's an active, legal trade in artifacts, but there is also a large illegal trade that is difficult to police. According to some law enforcement folks, one of the things that's been driving the thefts in recent years is methamphetamine.

Meth has been an all-purpose scourge, blamed for ruining lives, dental hygiene, and spreading crime and toxic chemicals on our wild lands. Its popularity in rural areas around the country and on reservations has made it a problem on public tracts and tribal lands where there is plenty of room for mischief, from hidden drug labs to illegal timber cutting. But some in law enforcement have seen a particular connection between meth users and the theft of Indian and prehistoric artifacts.

In Oregon, a federal operation called Operation Bring 'Em Back, targeting the illegal traffic in artifacts, has led to recovery of literally "hundreds of thousands" of Indian artifacts. According to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) report:

In 2006, 11 suspects pleaded guilty to a variety of Federal charges, including conspiracy, violations of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and violations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). This investigation resulted in the first criminal conviction of NAGPRA in the Pacific Northwest. In addition, several other significant criminal activities were uncovered, including two methamphetamine labs, an indoor marijuana growing operation, and multiple wildlife poaching cases.

The meth-artifact connection has also been noted by the BLM as a more general phenomenon on lands it manages around the country:

[T]he BLM’s law enforcement Agents and Rangers continued to investigate and prosecute a wide range of cases, including the illegal digging on and theft of artifacts from public lands. In many of the cases involving the theft of artifacts, the possession or the manufacturing of methamphetamine continued to be associated with arrested suspects."

Get the Story:
Indiana Jones, meth addict (Crosscut 10/12)

Copyright © Indianz.Com