Dozens of Indian artifacts are recovered

Authorities recovered more than 20 sets of human remains under an amnesty program for plundered Indian objects that was run by U.S. attorneys in the Four Corners states.

The remains were in addition to dozens of Indian artifacts, including a Zuni war god carved from a log, surrendered by collectors or their heirs, government officials confirmed Wednesday.

Authorities previously reported the artifacts, but out of respect to American Indian tribes they didn't publicize the recovery of ancient bones and skulls. However, a report prepared for a Utah government advisory panel dealing with reparation of Indian objects lists some of the amnesty-recovered remains.

The amnesty from prosecution continues in Colorado because federal prosecutors in that state publicized the wrong expiration date. The amnesty, which was set to run for 90 days, expired Aug. 16 for Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, but will continue in Colorado until Sept. 4 as advertised there.

U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs agent John Fryar, based in Albuquerque, confirmed Wednesday that the four-state amnesty has produced just over 20 sets of human remains so far.

None of the remains have been identified or associated with any tribe yet, although Utah plans to make that effort.

Forrest Cuch, director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, said Wednesday he planned to ask the state's medical examiner to analyze a collection of human remains turned over to his agency that includes eight skulls, two jaw bones and a human bone.

Cuch compiled a list of looted items recovered in Utah that reads like a mystery.

Among other things, it says a "shoe" was found floating in Lake Powell 20 years ago. It wasn't immediately clear Wednesday what kind of shoe had been plucked from the reservoir.

Another recovered item was an Indian art panel that a New York man reportedly cut from a boulder half a century ago along the shore of Utah Lake. The collector, however, was unable to return to New York with the panel, a mineral-based pictograph. It wasn't clear where the pictograph was kept in the meantime or how it was turned over to authorities.

Information also is sketchy on the origin of many of the human remains turned over to Utah authorities. Four of the sets were returned without any details about where they came from.

One skull had "Jasper" written across it, but there was no explanation for the name. That skull was accompanied by a set of teeth in an envelope.

Other collectors were more helpful.

One drew a map for authorities showing where in 1955 he found a skull near Blanding, Utah. Another skull was listed as having been found by schoolchildren 20 years ago in an unidentified canyon near Moab, Utah. That skull was kept by a teacher at an elementary school.