ANOTHER ROADSIDE ATTRACTION
Another insult of the Ancient Ones by settler-colonists (excuse the jargon)
(Rewrite, Nov. 28, 2020: Discovered by Utah wildlife biologists on Nov. 18, the obelisk was gone 10 days later — to the dismay of hundreds of tourists who had managed to discover its whereabouts thanks to the Internet and flocked to the site.)
The story about the mysterious obelisk of San Juan County is everywhere.
It made news from the South China Morning Post to The New York Times to Al-Jazeera and has drawn comments from all corners, including Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
For the global news outlets, the “Big Foots,” it’s morphed into a whodunit.
What seemed to matter most, at least in the Salt Lake Tribune’s account, was the artistic medium (minimalist sculpture) and installation process (deliberate), at least to historian Patricia Limerick, if not law enforcers or critics of creation of the national monument who fully expected this kind of stuff to happen and fully expect more to come.
She was quoted in the article. The following is the only sentence in the 2,000 word account that raised concerns: “While some critics of the sculpture have called it ‘litter’ and ‘glorified vandalism,’ multiple visitors Wednesday worried the obelisk itself would be marked up by graffiti.”
It’s art don’t cha know.
“The apparent deliberateness of the obelisk’s construction and placement on the landscape qualify it as a piece of art,” she said.
If quoted accurately, her perspective, especially given her prominent status at the University of Colorado at Boulder, was extraordinarily irresponsible, as was the Tribune’s fluff. According to the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts:
“The monolith discovered in southern Utah has prompted discussions about public art and inspired many people to visit the site despite efforts by officials to keep it secret. As the department that includes the divisions of Indian Affairs, State History, and Arts & Museums, we want to ensure a couple of other important points are kept in mind.
“First, debates about the monolith as an artistic statement shouldn’t equate it with indigenous rock art. This piece is a contemporary statement. Ancient petroglyphs, pictographs and rock art are protected archaeological treasures with established cultural and historical significance.
“Also, while curiosity is understandable, we strongly discourage visiting the monolith. Along with safety concerns, Increased crowds threaten the archaeological resources in the area. Unintentional damage is still damage. If you still choose to visit, please do not damage any rock art and don’t gather archaeological items such as arrowheads. Leave the area as undisturbed as possible.
“Finally, while the monolith has better craftsmanship than graffiti, this is still vandalism. It irreversibly altered the natural environment on public lands. While the monolith is interesting, we cannot condone vandalism of any type.
Nothing indicates tribal members were consulted regarding placement of the art in a region considered sacred by many Indigenous peoples of the Southwest. They weren’t even mentioned in the Tribune story as stakeholders. It’s easy to imagine that the obelisk’s worldwide celebration, or at least notoriety, as just the latest example of “European-settler colonization” — especially awkward coming during National Native American Heritage Month.
I read about a dozen other reports written more or less independently. At this point, the only expression of concern that I’ve come across has come from Utah’s Department of Heritage and Arts, cited above. Nothing from popular media, including the “Big Foots.”
I mean, give me a break. Can you imagine the outrage if Navajo activists broke into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York in Manhattan (Manhatta to Lenape peoples, the first inhabitants of the lush island) and put up examples of their ancient traditional art? Then, they danced around in celebration?
I could find nothing from archeologists. Or paleontologists. Or biologists, of either the flora or fauna kind. Or environmentalists, who typically have a well-massaged opinion on everything.
“Although we can’t comment on active investigations, the Bureau of Land Management would like to remind public land visitors that using, occupying, or developing the public lands or their resources without a required authorization is illegal, no matter what planet you are from.” (Bureau of Land Management)
A bit of bureaucratic humor.
Critics (me) of creation of President Obama’s 1.9 million acre Bears Ears National Monument and its full restoration under President Biden (President Trump shrunk it by about 85 percent) and runaway tourism in general predicted that because of sophisticated marketing and promotion and lack of funds to adequately protect archeological artifacts, wildlife habitat, and unique geological formations, monument designation would protect nothing.
Prophetic, right? Well, pat myself on the back.
Within about a week of the obelisk’s discovery, hundreds of curiosity seekers flooded into one of the remotest locations in North America for a look-see. They were guided by GPS coordinates published on the Internet.
Within hours of the Utah Department of Public Safety’s announcement of its discovery, followed by reaction of the Bureau of Land Management, Reddit user Tim Slane had identified the object on Google Earth. Slane found the canyon with some clever cross-referencing — a process he says he’s honed with the online game Geoguessr, where players deduce the locations of random Google Street View pictures. “I started to realize I had a talent for finding places just based on the geography. All that paired with an abundance of curiosity about the world led me to spend a lot of time on Google Earth,” he told The Verge over Reddit chat.
Slane compared the flight path of the helicopter used by state biologists tracking bighorn sheep against the red-and-white sandstone terrain from their video. Slane said that “he was aided by clues like the cliffs’ height, the canyon’s erosion pattern (indicating a more exposed area), and a flat floor suggesting it wasn’t frequently flooded (and, by extension, was near the top of a watershed).
C’mon down, and they did. It became a kind of hippy-dippy, soft rock celebration for a few Burning Man-ish Boomers and their progeny. Just having fun amid a pandemic.
Bad art, appalling
“It’s particularly appalling when someone claims to be an artist when they are truly vandals in the parks. Maybe in another appropriate place, it’s art. But these are parks protected for their own beauty and their own history.” (Cory MacNulty, National Parks Conservation Association)
Good art: We encourage fun, inspiration
”We also are enjoying the conversations, the inspiration, the fun that people are having with it. We completely encourage that. So we hope people will continue to have fun with it and to be safe as far as accessing the site.” (Kimberly Finch, BLM spokeswoman, Bears Ears, 2020)
