P A A T LUNDER OF THE NCIENTS RUE S B , R , TORY OF ETRAYAL EDEMPTION AND U Q R AN NDERCOVER UEST TO ECOVER S N A A ACRED ATIVE MERICAN RTIFACTS L D S UCINDA ELANEY CHROEDER F B N OREWORD BY EN IGHTHORSE C , R US S AMPBELL ETIRED ENATOR FROM C M OLORADO AND EMBER OF THE C T HEYENNE RIBE LYONS PRESS Guilford, Connecticut Helena, Montana An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK Copyright © 2014 by Lucinda Delaney Schroeder All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Information available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available ISBN 978-0-7627-9633-5 (hardcover) eISBN 978-1-4930-1544-3 (eBook) The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. In memory of National Park Service special agent Susan Morton (05/14/52– 03/18/10), whose dedication to the preservation of Native American culture was a gift to all While pursuing monsters, be wary of not becoming the monster you wish to slay. —W M S , ISDOM OF ONSTER LAYER N AN ANCIENT AVAJO DEITY C ONTENTS Copyright Foreword Introduction Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five Chapter Thirty-Six Chapter Thirty-Seven Chapter Thirty-Eight Chapter Thirty-Nine Chapter Forty Chapter Forty-One Chapter Forty-Two Chapter Forty-Three Chapter Fourty-Four Epilogue Photographs Acknowledgments Index About the Author F OREWORD During my tenure in the United States Congress, I supported the passage of a federal law titled The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The purpose of NAGPRA is to address the rights of lineal descendants of Native American tribes to their sacred items, objects of cultural patrimony, and human remains. During the 1970s the FBI and the National Park Service developed evidence that Native American artifacts of cultural significance were being commercially exploited. Collectors and museum curators from the United States and all over the world had created a lucrative market for items of cultural significance to Native Americans. The trafficking of these items resulted in tribes being robbed of many of their precious artifacts, used in ceremonies that served to enrich the spiritual lives of Native Americans. Sadly, such thefts contributed to the abandonment of a number of ceremonial rites that had been conducted for centuries. Plunder of the Ancients is a true account of how an undercover sting operation was conducted by three federal agencies to enforce the provisions of NAGPRA. During this investigation criminals were caught working underground trafficking in nearly one million dollars’ worth of Native American artifacts. Readers will become acutely aware of the detrimental spiritual impact on Native American tribes, but will also rejoice in the repatriation of artifacts critical to expressing their ancient and sacred spiritual beliefs. —Ben Nighthorse Campbell Ben Nighthorse Campbell represented Colorado’s 3rd District in the US House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and served the state as a US senator from 1993 to 2005. He is currently a member of the Council of Chiefs for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.