Hey all and especially Sue, All I can say is...woah!!! You have seen some of the nastiest sides in the profession and my hat is off to you for what you have experienced. As I mentioned in a follow up note on basic mapping skills to keep in mind when mapping smaller out of the way cemeteries, I did have an instance where I watched a fellow archaeologist use the excuse of poor information (a map had one symbol missing - oiy vey) to discard information on the side of money...and you are right, it is very heart wrenching to see and to stand up against (lost that job due to my over active bull-headedness - go fig.). I guess I could offer hope of some sort that there are more and more archaeologists out there who realize the importance of working with the general public and that we are no longer in an ivory tower of academia. The discipline is changing and the study of diseased teeth is lessening of importance to many archaeologists. I have been fortunate in working with numerous archaeologists who would rather give a wide birth to any grave rather than mitigate it just to keep the remains in a box on a shelf for years in a lab somewhere. Ideas are changing but it does take time. So..all...where do we go from here? Perhaps aside from awareness in the public eye, we should also focus on educational institutions...hmmm? As I mentioned before, when I had learned of stone restoration with John last year, I sent out the information to many archy 'buds' and several of them took up the information and pursued more along those lines. If Sue and anyone else does not mind, I would like to send on our letters to several institutions and start pushing for more historical cemetery preservation classes in the history and anthropology departments. I would like to write up a general letter to academic departments that urged them consider adding this factor to the discipline. The letter would probably be more well received if it was targeted at cross disciplinary measures (economics, sociology, anthropology, business). Perhaps if I drafted something up this week, I could send it to the board and everyone could give me some input?... Another suggestion I would have for the board is that now that the cemetery preservation groups are becoming much more organized and holding seminars on cemetery restoration and awareness, make sure that CRM firms, educational institutions, museums, and other professional and amateur archaeology groups receive the invitation as well in your areas. I will look up some contact information for everyone as far as lists and mailing (and hopefully E-mails as well). Make sure we follow up invitations by mail or E-mail with phone calls and stress the importance of the learning opportunity and the positive PR involved. And hopefully Sue, I can give you some reassurance that there are some good 'prostitutes' (sorry, got the giggles and had to put that one in...nice slam) in your area. Claude Warren might be of some service to you in the southern California area. He is primarily a prehistorian, but has been around for ever and is retired and a pretty big name over there. I believe he is residing in Bakersfield near the Nevada border and you might be able to contact him through UNLV and E-mail. Also from UNLV is Margaret Lineus, a real stickler for morality and also retired just this year. She might be able to offer you some support as well and might want to really be involved in a movement such as this. As far as California, you might want to contact Joan Davis at UC Riverside. I have only met her a couple of times, but she is really approachable and easy going. She might be able to help you out as well. Hope this helps. Russ Hapke LaPorte County, IN >

Hello all, I've just read through the majority of the 'archeologist' emails. I've got to put my two cents worth in here. I try to lay low and only respond occasionally, this is one of those times. Here in Washington state we have an altogether different scenario, yet very similar. Similar in that we have "trouble" with archeologists and different in that archeologists know a lot about the ancient burial sites. Let me explain. We have a tremendous number of Native American burial sites here in Washington. We also have a tremendous amount of archeologists who are self-acclaimed experts of Native American burial sites. Quite often archy's (much less typing with this nickname) are called in by the state or local government when a burial is discovered on property being graded. Work absolutely STOPS until an archy decides whether or not it is a historical burial (the local coroner is called in also to claim whether or not a homicide). If the archy claims it is a historical burial, they can take--yes, take-- the remains and send them to a university of their choice for further study. If they turn out to be Native American, they are supposed be returned to the tribe claiming them for reburial. All an archy has to do to claim everything in the burial site is remove it and send it somewhere. Recently, it was found that an archy put in charge of a burial site in a small town north of Seattle had removed many remains and all that was buried with them and sent them to a university in another state. However, it was found that the man had stolen items for his own use. Selling some and storing other stuff at his home. Bones had been found in a box in the back of his truck, everything was not tagged, photographed, recorded, etc., as an archy is supposed to do. The man was too common for this area. Tribes have been claiming for years that this is happening, and complaining in their quiet way, with no results. And, the worst part is that government agencies hiring them have claimed they have no further responsibility to the remains--they just want to be rid of the burial site so they can build, or whatever. (BTW, I am neither NA nor an archy) In the City of Snohomish, the Snohomish Cemetery was said to have no burials (people actually think that if the remains are 100 years old or thereabouts, they have disappeared and this means the cemetery is no longer a cemetery). A senior center was moved onto the property (an old house), and a parking lot was paved. Descendants (archeologists, I might add) filed a lawsuit to stop the desecrations. The City claimed there were no remains and wanted the dedication removed so they could also build a teen center next door. The descendants (one family) spent over $100,000 to stop the madness. The judge ordered an archeologist come in to determine whether or not there were burials. They graded a portion of the property to expose unworked soil, the archeologist located some graves (disturbed dirt compared to undisturbed dirt). They dug into a couple of graves and behold! they found remains. I'm not sure of the final disposition of the case. The archeologist did their job to that point. The problem? The descendant who is an archeologist is married to an archeologist working on the Kennewick man. The husband working on the Kennewick man (remember the remains that had been rebuilt by a sculptor that looked like Jon Luc Picard of Star Trek?) did not want to release the remains of the Kennewick man back to the tribe from whose land the remains had been taken. So, when it was their own family--they wanted it to be left alone, but when it suited their research, they wanted to claim the remains and remove them to a university. Quite a juxtiposition! Moral to my email--an archeologist is just like everyone else and some are trustworthy and others are not. They each must be treated to their lowest common denominator--which means archys must be monitored and accountable. Sad, but necessary, here anyway. It is my opinion that archeologists are interested in burials in a historical sense but are not interested in current cemetery preservation. One is in the past, the other is current. I might call an archeologist if I needed to know if there is a historical Native American burial, but I would not call an archeologist to conserve a stone. -------------- Andrea D. MacDonald "Andi" andimac@oz.net Washington State Cemetery Association http://www.rootsweb.com/~wapsgs/ "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead