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29 ’89	13:11
FROM
HANCOCK CO PORT & HARBOR COMM
PPGE 0
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the State of Mississippi possesses a rich archaeological heritage that is unexcelled in America; and
WHEREAS, there is much that present and future generations can learn about the State's prehistoric and historic past from the proper study of archaeological sites; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Mississippi has, through its enactment of the Antiquities La*7 of Mississippi, declared it to be the public policy and in the public interest of the State to locate, protect, and preserve all sites of archaeological significance including prehistoric and historic American Indian or aboriginal campsites, dwellings, habitation sites, and archaeological sites of every character; and
WHEREAS, archaeological sites, including Indian mounds, villages, and cemeteries, are non-renewable resources that represent our only available source of information on prehistory; and
WHEREAS, the archaeological heritage of Mississippi is being destroyed at a continually increasing rate by grave robbers and others who indulge in unauthorized, undisciplined excavations to obtain artifacts that can be sold for personal gain? and
WHEREAS, such archaeological site looting and grave desecration is illegal, immoral, destructive of invaluable archaeological evidence, and defrauds the citizens of Mississippi an inportant aspect of their heritage; and
WHEREAS, Coahoma County law enforcement officials, under the direction of Sheriff Andrew Thompson, Jr., and Justice Court Judge Kenneth Bush and with the assistance of Mr. James Humber, Jr., the Mississippi Wildlife Conservation Ccnmission, and the Department of Corrections, have recently apprehended, convicted, and sentenced three individuals who had illegally entered private property with the intent of desecrating Indian burials at one of the State's most significant prehistoric sites;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Department of Archives and History, at its meeting in Jackson, Mississippi, on January 13, 1989, conmends the Coahoma County citizens and law enforcement officials, the Mississippi Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Department of Corrections for their active enforcement of laws protecting archaeological sites and prehistoric burials; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees discourages ■ the buying and selling of Indian artifacts since this practice encourages the senseless destruction of valuable archaeological sites by looters seeking personal financial gain; and