| FROM THE U.S.
The Society for American Archaeology’s
(SAA) Government Affairs Program, managed
by lawyer and WAC4 attendee Donald Craib,
publishes a detailed monthly update on matters
of relevance to archaeologists and heritage
professionals that are being considered
by the U.S. government in Washington D.C..
The URL is http://www.saa.org/Government/.
Recent editions of the update include the
following items which should be of interest
to WAC members, especially in the lead-up
to WAC-5 in Washington D.C.. Note that the
original text is copyright. It is only paraphrased
here to draw the attention of readers to
the issues in question. Readers are referred
to the SAA website for details.
ARPA Decision
In December 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals
decided that there is no violation of the
Archaeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA) if someone takes archaeological artefacts
from Federal land unless it can be shown
beyond reasonable doubt that the person
knew that the objects are more than 100
years old. The case arose after a man pleaded
guilty under ARPA of removing a Native American
skull from a cave in National Forest in
Alaska. The Appeal Court judgement led then-SAA
president Keith Kintigh to write to the
U.S. Department of Justice asking the Solicitor
General to appeal the ruling and if necessary,
petition the United States Supreme Court.
Kintigh noted that the SAA “strongly supports
effective use of ARPA to protect heritage
resources from the devastating and irreparable
effects of looting and vandalism”. He argued
that the ruling alters ARPA by misreading
the criminal intent element of the law,
meaning that ARPA convictions will be more
difficult to achieve. He stated that this
“will leave heritage resources dangerously
vulnerable to damage and destruction as
they were before the enactment of ARPA in
1979”.
Kennewick Man
In September 2000, Secretary of Interior
Babbitt decided that the remains of Kennewick
Man are Native American as defined by NAGPRA
and culturally affiliated with five claimant
tribes. The SAA wrote to Babbitt to support
his determination that the remains are Native
American, but questioning his position on
cultural affiliation. A copy of SAA's position
paper can be found on SAA's web page.
Smithsonian sale of antiquities
On behalf of all of the major national
professional organizations representing
archaeology in the United States –the Society
for American Archaeology, the Archaeological
Institute of America, the Society for Historical
Archaeology, and the Archaeology Division
of the American Anthropological Association
– the-then SAA President wrote to the Smithsonian
Institution (a partner in WAC-5) regarding
advertizing the sale of antiquities. Using
very direct language, Kintigh stated that
the Smithsonian has “important responsibilities
to help preserve and protect the world’s
irreplaceable cultural heritage” and that
its “complicity in the sale of antiquities
runs directly contrary to those goals”.
Smithsonian Centre for Materials Research
and Education (SCMRE) axed
The SCMRE will be closed at the end of
this year and its research program terminated.
Founded in 1963, the centre is a world leader
in preserving cultural heritage by conducting
archaeological materials research and conservation
studies and by training hundreds of researchers
from the U.S. and over 40 countries in conservation,
preservation, and materials research. Current
SAA president Bob Kelly wrote to the Smithsonian’s
Board of Regents asking them to reconsider
the SCMRE’s future on the grounds that The
SCMRE is an essential part of the Smithsonian's
research mandate.
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World
Archaeological Bulletin