Thursday, January 30, 2014

Find Genuine American Indian Artifacts

By Serena Price


People collect all kind of things. From baseball cards to American Indian artifacts, the spectrum of collectibles spans a spectrum of items that can be as rare or common as the collector wishes it to be. There are lots of opportunities to purchase, trade or sell these things. Taking advantage of the internet is one of the easiest ways to optimize your ability to do this.

Part of the problem is that it is difficult to prove exactly where such items were found. If something is claimed to be historically significant but can't be easily authenticated, it can be traded as a legal commodity, even if it isn't. Without the proper documentation, these items can be lost forever to people who choose to collect things that are inappropriate to own.

Another thing to avoid is black market items. They have often been stolen from grave sites or other culturally significant areas. Criminal loot these areas for their own profit and often times destroy the areas that they are looting. The impact this has on our understanding of our own history and culture can't be underestimated. They are some of the worst people in the world.

The people who get these things are no better than grave robbers who would exhume corpses for their jewelry and personal possessions. They are disturbing the graves of people who were respectfully laid to rest many generations ago and the implications for those with a shared heritage are appalling and shocking. There are lots of people who are still sensitive to those remains and hope for their protection.

Figuring out who the dealer is or where the object came from is difficult occasionally. Most times, you can find out from customers that the dealer has done business with in the past. Often, former customers will be able to share their experience and whether or not it was a good one or a bad one. This kind of insight can be invaluable.

The internet is another great way to stay involved with your hobby. There are sites that exist only to show collections and how they are displayed. These websites offer the novice collector the opportunity to learn how more serious collectors choose to display their own collections and gives them something to aspire to.

Tromping around without concern for the things that aren't valuable in a fiscal sense can be so destructive as to negate the information that could have been gleaned from the historical things. This ignorance and destructiveness is costing us our history and our understanding of ourselves. The battle to understand our own lives and history is being lost.

Collectors are unique individuals who choose to display their items publicly or, less frequently, keep them for their own personal viewing pleasure. Whether it is American Indian artifacts or sports cards, there are lots of ways that you can grow and learn from collecting. Using all of your available resources is the best way of doing this. Networking with other collectors through websites or trade shows is the best way of buying, selling or trading your stuff.




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