Story by Howard Berkes
All Things Considered
June 10, 2009

As many as 150 federal agents, sheriff's deputies and tribal police served arrest and search warrants in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico on Wednesday morning, capping a two-year undercover sting aimed at a black market in ancient Indian artifacts. 

The indictments unsealed Wednesday name 24 people who are charged with violating federal laws that prohibit the digging and selling of centuries-old pots, sandals, religious items and other artifacts left by ancient Native Americans on what is now federal and tribal land.  Most of those targeted live in southeastern Utah, where generations of families have been involved in both a legal and illegal trade in artifacts. Federal law does not prohibit the digging and removal of artifacts from private land.

This artifacts subculture began in the late 1800s, when rancher Richard Wetherill discovered the cliff dwellings of a lost culture referred to as the "Anasazi." The dwellings eventually were protected with the creation of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.  Wetherill and his family also found burial sites containing clay pots, reed sandals and religious items. That attracted the interest of collectors and museums. A lucrative trade developed that continues in both legal and black market forms today.

Prosecutors have found it difficult to prosecute thefts from federal and tribal lands because the region is vast and remote. Pothunters, as they're called, are rarely caught in the act, and they claim that the items they sell were found on private land.  The sting revealed Wednesday involved 256 artifacts purchased by undercover agents for $333,685. The indictments allege theft of government property, theft from tribal lands and depredation of government property. Both felony and misdemeanor counts are involved. Penalties upon conviction range to up to 10 years in prison.

Most of the arrests took place in Blanding, Utah, which is a center of both legitimate and illegal artifacts markets. Arrests also occurred in Moab and Monticello, Utah, and in neighboring Colorado and New Mexico.  The region is known for thousands of archaeological sites containing dwellings and burial grounds of ancient native people who mysteriously vanished before modern tribes appeared. Some archaeologists consider the area to have the world's greatest concentration of artifacts, graves, and cliff paintings and etchings.