My apologies for cross-posting, folks, but I'd rather some of you got
this particular message more than once rather than not all.

Hope to see you all next month in Springfield!

Greg
<bgpaulus@...>

--- In SLARK@yahoogroups.com, "Baumann, Timothy E." <tbaumann@...>
wrote:

Dear Colleagues and Preservation Advocates,

In 1987, the state of Missouri passed its first unmarked burial law
(Missouri Public Law 194:400-194:410) to protect unmarked graves of
both prehistoric Native Americans and more recent historic interments
of all ethnic groups from disturbance by treasure hunters and
construction activity on private and public lands
(<http://www.missouri.edu/~moarch/text/buriallaw.html>). This law was
created with good intentions, but from its inception it has been
flawed.

In 1988, the Missouri Archaeological Society published a thematic
newsletter on Missouri's unmarked burial law in its Missouri
Archaeological Society Quarterly, Volume 5 (1). Within this quarterly
newsletter, respected archaeologists quickly criticized this law to the
point that one stated, "A number of general solutions can be offered to
clarify this obscure statute. The best solution would be to repeal the
law and draft a new legislation that is clear, fair to all parties, and
reasonable."

Since this time, no real effort has been made to clarify this law
resulting in subpar investigations that have lacked the resources and
the legal backing to protect the last resting place of our ancestors.
The most recent example occurred in 1999, when two large prehistoric
burial mounds in Fenton, Missouri were removed because they were within
the construction zone of a new shopping mall. A summary of these
excavations and how Missouri's unmarked burial law contributed to the
destruction of these prehistoric cemeteries was highlighted in the
October 31 - November 6, 2001 issue of the Riverfront Times in St.
Louis.

Over the past few months, I have contacted a number of Missouri State
Representatives and Senators concerning Missouri's unmarked burial law
and other issues dealing with the preservation and protection of
archaeological resources. The following politicians have agreed to
assist in creating a new burial law or amending the 1987 version and
are willing to pursue additional preservation laws (e.g. Missouri State
"Archaeological Resource Protection Act"). To expedite this process,
these gentlemen need the archaeology community to provide a consensus
on the revisions of the burial law and/or the creation of new
archaeology legislation.

Senator Wayne Goode - District 13
State Capitol Building, Room 333
Jefferson City, MO 65101
(573) 751-2420

Senator Chuck Gross - District 23
State Capitol Building, Room 419
Jefferson City, MO 65101
(573) 751-8635

Rep. Randall H. Relford - District 6
MO House of Representatives
201 West Capitol Avenue, Room 303A
Jefferson City MO 65101
(573) 751-9818

Rep. Tom Dempsey - District 18
MO House of Representatives
201 West Capitol Avenue, Room 135BB
Jefferson City MO 65101
(573) 751-1141

Those interested in participating in this discussion are encouraged to
send their comments to me by April 22nd and to attend the Missouri
Association of Professional Archaeologists business meeting on Friday,
April 26th between 8 -10 p.m. at the 2002 MAS / MAPA meeting in
Springfield, Missouri to share these ideas.

If you have any questions, then please let me know. I have listed some
web links to major state and federal legislation below to help with
this process.

Missouri's Unmarked Burial Law -
<http://www.missouri.edu/~moarch/text/buriallaw.html>

Federal Laws and Regulations - <http://www.cr.nps.gov/linklaws.htm>

Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 -
<http://archnet.asu.edu/archnet/topical/crm/usdocs/nagpra14.htm>

Archaeology Resource Protection Act -
<http://archnet.asu.edu/archnet/topical/crm/usdocs/arpa79.html>

North Carolina Archaeology Laws -
<http://www.arch.dcr.state.nc.us/laws.htm>

Sincerely,

Tim

Timothy E. Baumann Ph. D., RPA
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Missouri-St. Louis
8001 Natural Bridge Road
Clark Hall 507
St. Louis, MO 63121-4499

Phone: (314) 516-6021
Fax: (314) 516-7235
E-mail: <tbaumann@...>
Website: <http://www.umsl.edu/~anttbaum/>

--- End forwarded message ---

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