User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Pectol Shields

The Pectol Shields refer to "three decorated buffalo hide shields" found in Utah by Ephraim P. Pectol in a cave near Capitol Reef National Park in 1926. "Because they were found on federal land, in 1953 they were acquired by Capitol Reef National Park and displayed in the visitor center there for many years. "Carbon dating indicated the shields were made between 1420 and 1640, probably near the end of that range. They are the oldest leather shields known in the United States." They were claimed by both the Navajo tribal officials in Arizona and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe based in Towaoc, Colorado, who filed for their appeal in 2002 according to "Paula Molloy, spokeswoman for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C." LDS scholars claimed the symbols of the shields can be traced to LDS origins.

""To all appearances weapons, they were not considered as burial offerings, sacred or ceremonial items under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), when the act was passed in 1990. The act requires that Indian grave or ceremonial items in the federal government's control should be turned over to tribes requesting them, when an affiliation can be shown with the tribe...The Pueblo tribe did not file a claim, but the Navajos and several other tribes did. Also filing were Utes from Fort Duchesne, Uintah County; Kaibab Paiutes from Fredonia, Ariz.; and Utes from Colorado. In July, Al Hendricks, superintendent of Capitol Reef National Park, ruled the Navajo Tribe should get the shields. The tribe's land is located in southern Utah, eastern New Mexico and northern Arizona, with headquarters in Window Rock, Ariz. By then, the shields had been moved from Capitol Reef to a Park Service repository in Tucson, Ariz.""

- Deseret News 2002