The sessions shown below address activities associated with the Presentation on Cultural Resources Protection Law. There are sessions addressing Identifying Experts, Contacting Archaeologists, Drafting Indictment, Tribal Consultation, Other Sources, Case Example, Non-Traditional Experts and the Purpose of ARPA and NAGPRA.
Cultural Resources Protection Law – Working with Traditional and Non-Traditional Experts Videos
 | 1. Introduction ( 02:48)Description: You are about to view a presentation on Cultural Resources Protection Law titled "Working With Traditional and Non-Traditional Experts." The presenter is Diane Humetewa. One of the greatest challenges to an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting a violation under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act or the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is educating the judge and jury on the intrinsic value of the item of cultural heritage that has been damaged or destroyed. Experts, both scientific and nonscientific, thus play a critical role not only in the investigation and identification of the item damaged or trafficked but also in educating others on why these items and places receive federal protection.
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 | 2. Identifying Experts (04:58)Description: We’re going to talk to you about the use of traditional and non-traditional experts in your ARPA and NAGPRA cases. You've already learned earlier the definitions of ARPA and the protected items that are included in NAGPRA. What we’re going to talk to you today about is how to identify those experts to help you in building your case from the inception of the crime through the trial and sentencing phase as well as how to use these experts to enhance your overall case presentation..
 3. Contacting Archaeologist (07:40)Description: once you've received notice of the crime and you've identified preliminarily what the item is and what area of protection it falls into and you have a pretty good idea of who your experts are, at this point who you're going to contact, you want to make immediate contact with the archaeologist if he or she is going to be your expert. Discuss with them the criminal process. It's imperative that you don't assume that they've been practiced in assisting in federal prosecutions before. Educate them on the elements that you're going to be required to prove for archaeological damage, excavation, provenance, age. Explain why damage assessment is important. As you know, ultimately the damage assessment will drive part of your case through the point of sentencing. |  4. Drafting Indictment (10:08)Description: Now, you're going to want to get to drafting the indictment. And again, use the story from the expert. You want to include key points of history, cultural significance and so on. In most ARPA and NAGPRA cases, a speaking indictment, and you'll want to make sure to include the background and history of these items. So here we have a very brief sentence that says: Between the years 700 and 1100 A.D. and going back as far as 10,000 B.C., Native American cultures, such as the Cohena (phonetic), used hand tools to create petroglyphs within the area presently known as the Kaibab National Forest. |  5. Tribal Consultation (05:18)Description: Regardless of whether or not you're working on an ARPA case, you're going to want to contact and consult with Indian tribes. Be aware that there are consultation -- general consultation requirements in the executive branch that if any federal agency -- if their decisions impact Indian tribes, there's a requirement of consultation of that tribe. Ask your archaeologist, the archaeologist that you're working with or the field investigator you're working with whether or not they believe a tribe may have an interest in that particular item. It may originally seem that these interests may compete, after all, that is part of the history behind the enactment of NAGPRA, however, if you work properly together as a team, I think you'll find that the tribal interests and the tribal history that they will be able to provide in terms of that item, whether or not it's archaeologically protected, is going to enhance the value of that item, enhance the reason that it is protected after all. |  6. Other Sources (03:05)Description: You may want to develop other outside sources. In fact, it's critical that you do. In terms of these protected items, if you find through your research -- and you can even go onto eBay, for example, and find various items of like kind being offered for auction or sale or auction house magazines. For example, we've seen from time-to-time items displayed in various magazines with a set value of the item. It's imperative to get that information as well so that, again, you're in the process of educating your judge and giving them a realm of potential possibilities of how to arrive at damage, monetary damage, or cost of repair. |  7. Case Example (06:15)Description: Now that we've spent some time talking about traditional experts using archaeological or textile or scientific experts and their reports to enhance your case, I'm going to give you a couple of examples of how to use unusual experts, and to do so I'm going to give you some background history about the particular case I'm going to use as an example, which is United States versus Rodney Tidwell. |  8. Non Traditional Experts (17:41)Description: Here you're going to want to make sure that you break away from the stereotypical use of experts. In this realm you generally may not be using someone who is credentialed or who has a lengthy C.V. that you'll have to lay a foundation in terms of what their research and writing and study in the area is. You may be dealing with the lay expert, someone who has by virtue of growing up in a particular tribal society or clan, if you will, that they have by birth been given this particular -- or by initiation, I should say -- have been given this particular responsibility for these particular items so that they have intimate knowledge about what the item is. So you're not going to be necessarily dealing with credentialed experts. |  9. Purpose of ARPA and NAGPRA (01:59)Description: Finally, throughout the duration of your case, from the inception of the investigation through sentencing, always keep in the back of your mind the primary purposes of the Archaeological Resource Protection Act and the Native American Graves Protection Act or other federal laws that you may be supplementing your charge with. | |
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