WHAT IS A CULTURAL RESOURCE?
For thousands of years native people lived throughout the United States. They gathered food, hunted, fished and lived in small and large villages, worshipped in sacred places and carefully buried their dead. As time passed, non-Natives moved into the area, built homes and occupied the land in different ways. Like the Native Americans, they too worshipped in special places ad carefully buried their dead.
All people have left evidence of their lives on and around this area. These remnants are the legacy of our country and the heritage of all people, even into the future for our children’s children.
WHAT IS UNLAWFUL?
Defacing a pictograph or petroglyph
(Not everyone who destroys or damages cultural artifacts is a collector. People damage petroglyphs by simply taking rubbings with chalk and paint.)
Using a tool to remove an artifact from the ground
(A tool being any instrument, even a stick)
Digging for or possessing human remains
Digging or probing the ground for historic or prehistoric material
Vandalizing old buildings, cememeteries or cultural sites