Protecting a Pot

   The day finally begins to cool and you’re off kitchen duty for the evening. It’s a good chance to duck away for a quick look up the terrace above camp– never had the chance to get there and it’ll feel good to stretch the legs. Up over the boulders, traverse the short talus slope and hop up over the little ledge. Wait a minute. Something not quite right catches your eye, a shape out of place, a line that doesn’t fit. It’s too smooth, too regular to be Mother Nature’s work in this land of rough and sharp. You retrace the last few steps and peer into the darkness under the ledge. You catch your breath. It’s a pot shard, a big one. No it’s whole; an entire undamaged pot sitting quietly there for the past 8 centuries. Don’t that beat all?

   The Canyon’s a big place, really big. And stumbling across a stash of pots would seem very unlikely. But it happens and has happened several times in the past few years. The knowledge of each find spreads like fire through the river community; it’s an exciting thing to witness. But the excitement of the discovery leads to a classic quandary; what do I do now? Do I report the find or not?

   We can keep the find a secret, or try to, and leave it where it is. But that pot will be stolen. Despite our faith in human nature, that has been the fate of a nearly every pot found in the past few years. The alternative is to report the find. Maybe our fear here is similar, that the pot will be removed from the Canyon and left to reside on some dusty backroom shelf. Removal goes against our grain. The spirit of the pot has lived in the Canyon for 800 years. It should stay there. If we felt the pot would stay in the Canyon would it be easier to report? It would for me. Good news, the Park feels the same way.

   There are two good reasons to immediately report the find. 1) The Park archeologist, Jan Balsam, can gather whatever knowledge she can from the pot and it’s surroundings before they are altered, and 2) it will guarantee the pot won’t end up on someone’s mantle. Will it end up on a Park shelf? No, says Jan, the Park wants it to stay in the Canyon as well. In the past, Park policy may have been to remove pots but Jan has brought a new sensitivity to the issue. Her intent is to return the pot to the Canyon, to re-hide it securely nearby. Sometimes the find includes a burial site as well, making it all the more important that it not be disturbed even unintentionally. Can we trust her? The answer is yes. I have personally seen her commitment. It would be nice if it could be left in place and admired by those who visit the Canyon. Like a ruin. But the pot is decidedly different from a ruin, mainly in that it’s portable. Very portable. And on the black market it can bring thousands of dollars. History has shown that although 99.9% of us will respect the pot and neither touch nor remove it, eventually someone will. And at that point the pot and its spirit is lost to us all. The best way to protect the pot and its spirit is to report it immediately. We can learn from the find and protect the pot too. We have the same goal, Park and guides, to protect the pot. And we need each other. We’re the ones that find them. The Park can interpret and re-hide them. We’re a team and that’s the way it should be. Protect the pot. Report it.

Tom Moody

Wanted: Pot Snatcher $1000 Reward

   As most of you know, a well documented pot was stolen from a small cave near river mile 200 a few seasons ago. There is no trail access to the site, nor is it likely that the looter came by helicopter. It was taken by a boater.

   It’s bad enough that it is gone but it is especially disheartening that it was taken by someone we may know, someone who found out about it through a grapevine of people who trust each other, someone who decided they were the chosen one who should have something that belongs to everyone.

   It is an offense that is extremely illegal. It tramples the Canyon’s spirit and goes entirely against our unwritten code of ethics; it violates an honor that we all wish to share.

   GCRG would like to make every effort to bring the pot back into the park, to apprehend whoever took it, and to get the word out to the entire extended boating community that theft of artifacts cannot and will not be tolerated. We’ll put our money where our mouth is.
   In cooperation with the NPS and Silent Witness, GCRG is offering a $1000 reward for return of the pot and apprehension of the culprit. If you have any information on this or any other theft, call Silent Witness at (602) 638-7767. You will remain anonymous