Comments about ‘Indian artifact informant Ted Gardiner commits suicide’

Let me get this straight. The same government that stole the land from the natives in the first place is now prosecuting it's own people because we made a deal with said conquered people because individuals might be doing the same things that giant rich organizations (museums and endowed entities) and names have been doing for centuries. The same government that gives billions in donations and land grants to an indigenous population which converts their resources into gambling establishments to further pillage the squatters and to further enslave and shackle everyone involved. I think we could rename this government Kettle Black trading company. Yeah, I think I got it.

Concerned: Amen!

Concerned, what is it that you are talking about? Your rambling incoherent words make no sense.

Sad story, and my sympathies to the family, but does the goverment need to be putting someone on the pay-roll for information?

I will never understand the so called STING operations that sets up people to do these bogus crimes. If you cannot catch them doing an actual crime that is one thing, but why create a bogus operation to do that? People are human and may do something they are tempted to do and do it otherwise. BUT, is it morally right to set up someone to do a deed they will be dinged for? It has never made sense to me.
No one had to "set up" Bernie Madoff for doing what he did. See what I mean? IF there is not enough evidence to arrest someone, why is it so important to use govt money to set up a bogus operation? It is costly not to mention the risks. Which brings us to the two people who were arrested and committed suicide. Was it worth it for the govt? I don't think so. Then to have the undercover guy come up dead. The article stated it was under investigation. Something was obviously bothering him. No one knows, but it looks like something triggered it. Sad, three deaths later. Is there even a case now with no witness?

I am stunned again to learn of another person who has died because of this. I hope this is a lesson for federal prosecutors to realize that building a career by charging a bunch of good people for something as simple as this can have dire consequences. At the very least 3 people have now killed themselves, careers have been ruined, families have been devestated, and for what.. they "dared to kill a king's deer"?

What did these people do that was bad enough to prosecute them for? They picked up artificts and then sold them on ebay.. whoopdeedoo.. Oh.. its much worse than that becuase they did it for several years.. well la dee da.. Its not like they were selling drugs.. Or bombing people.. or spending our childrens future earnings. Who were they hurting? People who the feds took the land from in the first place? I see very little case for the governments grievance. If I pick up a rock on "federal property" am I going to get charged too? What about the time I harvested wild huckleberries and then sold them.. should I now become a fugitive from the law?

Shame on the feds..

Concerned...... You are obviously not a Native American and have never spent time living on a reservation have you?

How can the work he did for the FBI be volintary when he was paid 224,000? I think most of the cases will not be prosecuted and be considered entrapment because most of the artifacts were sold above market value. What a lot of heartache just to put Ken Salazar on a pedestal.

Three people involved in the stealing/selling of ancient Indian artifacts have committed suicide? Does anyone else think it sounds like a curse?

Where's their deed for the land?

So how does the prosecution intend to move forward when their star witness - whom they bribed to the tune of a cool quarter-mil to point the finger in every direction - kills himself in a standoff with authorities? How did they ever intend to make their case on the highly compensated testimony of a mentally ill drug addict? The indictments should fall on the Keystone Cops whose actions led to the deaths of three people. All for a dadgum arrowhead!

Well, the only "winners" appear to be the soul-dead federal agents--THEY got their men, and now can strut around like big heroes. Consider, though, that they are agents of the US government--the very same one that subjugated the cultures of the Southwest, and has no problem disturbing the gravesites for its own purposes.
I hope the lead agent in this case suffers a lifetime of sleepless nights.

If i had a opinion on this,i would have to say that these persons are being punished for desecrating the burial places of the ancestors buried there.
We as the original caretakers of this turtle island have always had respect for not only the land but also for the traditions and cultural ways of our fellow tribes. When we send someone on to the next world we do so as respectfully as we can and then we do not talk of them again, only if necessary and even then with the utmost respect. STOP DISRESPECTING OUR ANCESTORS !!!!!!!

Tell me if you think this would be offensive to you. Your dead anscestors will be dug up after a couple hundred of years. Their bones will be pushed aside and any religious articles buried with them will be taken and sold to the highest bidder. Would that bother you? I guess it is okay because these are white people's graves that are being disturbed.

Please remember that it was Dirk Kempthorne (George W. Bush's Secretary of the Interior) that began this investigation. It was inherited by Salazar.

The deed was given when Utah was granted statehood.

"The indictments should fall on the Keystone Cops whose actions led to the deaths of three people. All for a dadgum arrowhead!"

How about the indictments fall on the people who were robbing graves of native populations. Let's dig up your relatives and take all the stuff they were buried with and see if you like it.

Love it, So what all you people are complaining against is the arresting of grave robbers.
Comparing apples to oranges, brilliant...
Professional scientific study is equal to stealing the ring off your grandmother in her grave to sell to a pawn shop.
"Yeah All for a dadgum arrowhead!"
Not quite... these grave robber were turning a profit into the millions so quit trying to compare them to someone picking up a piece of broken pottery.
By the way it's not illegal to pick up an arrowhead on the surface of the ground.

What I can't understand, if a white person's body is discovered, or someone wants to move a graveyard, or an early Spanish settlers' remains or artifacts or civil war relics are discovered that's no big deal, but heaven forbid if it is something to do with a Native American. And how is it determined if you found an artifact on your land or you found it on federal land? If you found something on your land, it should be yours to do with as you like. And frankly, I see no reason that every arrow head or piece of pottery is sacred and should be left on the ground where it will be destroyed by the elements. If someone wants to pick it up and display it for others to enjoy also why not? This stuff about our poor ancestors and how they were so mistreated is getting old.

The laws that these whole cases fall on are retroactive and therefore by my estimation unconstitutional. A lot of expense for garbage laws.