- Vandals destroyed part of Occaneechi Town last night. They struck between midnight
and 6 a.m.
- Occaneechi Town is a 17th-century Siouan Indian village site. It is located in Orange
County.
- Police don't know how many people vandalized the site. Footprints make police think
there were two men and one woman.
- The vandals dug up two graves. They scattered the people's remains, and they stole the
offerings that had been placed in the graves.
- Archaeologists had scientifically recorded information from one of the destroyed graves.
They knew, thus, that the vandals stole a clay pipe, a bead necklace, several arrow
points, and the beautiful clay pot Mr. Jeffries talked about in his interview.
Archaeologists had not studied the other grave.
- "The information about that person is gone forever," said Dr. Explorit, the site
archaeologist. "We will never how that person died or anything at all about him or her.
We will never know what items grieving relatives and friends had placed in the grave.
The disrespect the looters showed to the deceased, the descendants, and to all of us in
terms of knowledge lost is inexcusable."
- Besides looting the graves, the vandals dug up a deep trash pit the Indian people had
used. Archaeologists had not had the chance to excavate and record the pit's contents.
The vandals threw out what was in the pit. Deer bone, pieces of broken pottery, and rock
cracked by cooking fires were found all over the ground. Police and the archaeologist,
Dr. Explorit, think the looters were looking for arrowheads.
- "The vandalism makes me angry and sad," said Dr. Explorit.
- Mr. Jeffries is a descendant of the Indian people who lived in Occaneechi Town. He said
he was angry and sad, too. "Those vandals are thieves of my culture," said Mr. Jeffries.
"They also intruded on the privacy of the people who were buried there. Why would
anybody do that? Those are special places; they are the resting places of ancient people."
- For other comments and insights by Mr. Jeffries, refer to "A Point of View."