A view of Clear Lake at Clear Lake State Park in California. Photo by Urban via Wikipedia

The Koi Nation is leading efforts to prevent the theft of archaeological and historic resources from sacred tribal lands in northern California.

Looting is almost a daily occurrence, Treasurer Dino Beltran told The New York Times. It's now even easier to find and take artifacts because drought conditions have exposed tribal sites at places like Clear Lake and Lake Oroville.

"These artifacts represent our ancestors and the sacrifices they made for us to be here,” Beltran told the paper. “For them to be disrespected is a terrible thing.”

The Koi Nation and another tribe recently hosted an archaeological crimes training session for law enforcement. Two days later, a detective who attended the session arrested a man who was stole a large number of artifacts from Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.

Get the Story:
Receding Waters in California Expose Artifacts to Plundering (The New York Times 12/2)

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