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Thursday, June 11, 2009
Agents Search Home for Artifacts
By Polly Summar
Copyright © 2009 Albuquerque Journal
Agents descended Wednesday on the Santa Fe home of former gallery owner Forrest Fenn armed with a search warrant seeking eagle feathers, ancient American Indian artifacts and sacred items, as well as a series of records dealing with sale or possible illegal possession of such items.
Even a mummified falcon reputed to be from King Tut's tomb, allegedly taken by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat from the Cairo Museum to give as a gift, apparently ended up in Fenn's hands — prompting searchers to include in the warrant “correspondence from the government of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Forrest Fenn.”
The story of the falcon, according to the affidavit, was based on taped and monitored conversations an informant had with Fenn over the last year. Fenn currently sells Indian artifacts and other items online at www.oldsantafetradingco.com.
Videos and audiotapes led agents to believe many items Fenn collected over the years may have come from public lands or may be sacred items that could not be legally taken from tribes, according to the affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque in support of the search warrant.
Fenn did not return calls from the Journal on Wednesday.
Vehicles surrounding Fenn's home at 1021 Old Santa Fe Trail came from a number of federal agencies, including the FBI, the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Department.
“I can confirm that we executed a federal search warrant at that address this morning,” said Darrin Jones, spokesman for the FBI in New Mexico.
The search, Jones said, was part of the same case in which some two dozen people were indicted in a sweeping federal investigation into ancient artifacts stolen from public and tribal lands in the Southwest.
An undercover source purchased 256 artifacts in 2007 and 2008 — Anasazi pottery, an assortment of burial and ceremonial masks, a buffalo headdress, arrowheads, hair ornaments and more — totaling $335,685. Jones said the case originated in the bureau's Salt Lake City office and is being coordinated out of that office in conjunction with the BLM.
“Twelve indictments have charged 24 defendants, and arrest warrants were issued for 23 out of the 24,” said Melissa Schwartz, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday.
Only one of the 23 people arrested was from New Mexico — David Waite in Albuquerque, according to Juan Becerra, an FBI spokesman in Salt Lake City. The others were from Utah and Colorado.
No charges were filed against Fenn on Wednesday.
The investigation is the nation's largest investigation of archaeological and cultural artifact theft, according to Melodie Rydalch, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Utah. Some 300 federal agents from the BLM were involved in the arrests.
The search warrant for Fenn's home outlined conversations with the informant and items displayed, including:
Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, any American Indian human remains, funerary objects, objects of cultural patrimony and sacred objects must be repatriated to Indian tribes, according to a statement from Rydalch. In regard to items seized from the four states, the BLM will consult with tribes to determine cultural affiliation and to facilitate repatriation.
The Four Corners area, once the center of Anasazi or ancestral Puebloan culture is a treasure trove of archaeological artifacts, said Mark Michel, president of the Archaeological Conservancy, a national group based in Albuquerque. “There are thousands of archaeological sites in that area, and I've never seen one that hasn't had some looting,” said Michel, who has worked in the areas for 30 years.
Regarding the overall regional operation, Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, issued a statement: “Let this case serve notice to anyone who is considering breaking these laws and trampling our nation's cultural heritage that the BLM, the Department of Justice and the federal government will track you down and bring you to justice.”
In the early '90s, Fenn sued, and later dropped the suit, to keep state officials from entering a prehistoric pueblo site that he owns in Galisteo. A state archaeologist reported at the time that he found a human arm bone and several finger bones atop a large pile of potsherds on the property.
In a counterclaim, state officials charged Fenn knowingly disturbed human burials at the site. Fenn said he accepted a settlement offer from the Attorney General's office in which both parties agreed to drop their claims.
In the affidavit filed Monday in connection with Wednesday's search, the BLM did say that it was legal for Fenn to have items from that privately-owned site.
During the search at Fenn's home at about 2:30 p.m., a BLM agent said the team leader at Fenn's home could not speak to a reporter. “They're swamped in there,” he said.
But the activity did attract a passer-by.
“Is there a sale?” the man asked. “I thought maybe Forrest was having a sale.”
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