Authorities in New Mexico search for petroglyph vandals

Jan. 29—One archaeological expert calls the recent desecration of ancient petroglyphs in La Cieneguilla a "cultural conflict," one likely carried out by teens oblivious to the significance of the artwork, which dates back hundreds and perhaps thousands of years.

The Bureau of Land Management, which continues to investigate the racist vandalism, says it's a felony, with penalties of up to two years in prison and $20,000 in fines for each count.

Law enforcement officers with the BLM, some with FBI-level clearance and qualifications, are working to identify and prosecute the offenders, said Pamela Mathis, manager of the agency's Taos Field Office.

The office reported 10 petroglyphs along a popular hiking trail in La Cieneguilla had been defaced sometime around Jan. 18. It was the third time the site had been struck in less than a year and the most damaging of the three incidents.

"We have a total of three reports in the last year," Mathis said. "Two were in the summer months and then this recent one, and this recent one is extremely significant."

The graffiti included a swastika, a pentagram and ethnic slurs as well as graphic images spray-painted or chiseled into the ancient art.

"The vandalism is certainly intentional," Mathis said. "The motive behind this particular vandalism we would not know until a suspect is apprehended, and we have more information."

While preventing damage to sensitive cultural sites statewide has proven difficult for local and federal agencies, some protections have been in place in the La Cieneguilla area.

It has undergone monitoring through the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division's SiteWatch program, which trains and coordinates volunteers to conduct routine inspections of historic and prehistoric sites on public, private and tribal land statewide, to search for natural wear and tear as well as looting and graffiti.

After the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, when the petroglyph trail was overloaded with visitors, the BLM worked with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office to increase patrols.

Following the most recent attack at the site, BLM spokeswoman Jillian Aragon said the agency planned to boost other security and surveillance efforts. She declined to speak in detail about the measures.

"It is a very patrolled and watched area, and we are increasing this," Aragon wrote in an email. However, she added, the agency preferred to keep its tactics secret "in hopes of catching whomever is doing this."

Other petroglyph sites around the state have been subject to damage as well. Visitors to Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque vandalized the area by collecting rocks and stacking them as trail markers in June, according to the Associated Press. In May 2020, the monument was struck by vandals who left graffiti and other destruction.

Mathis noted the procedure for cleaning and restoring sites like La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs after an attack of vandalism can be tedious, delicate and expensive work.

"It's not just purchasing chemicals or asking volunteers or staff to very painstakingly try and restore these, she said. "It's the fact that these are 8,000-year-old panels that tell a very rich history."

While a BLM website says the petroglyphs were produced between the 13th and 17th centuries, the agency says some of them may be nearly 8,000 years old.

When such sites are vandalized, Mathis said, "We are not only disrespecting our cultural and our heritage brothers and sisters, we are ruining sites that we are charged with maintaining for our future generations."

She added: "When you erase this history, it becomes hard to educate the youth that will follow — that's why these offenses are a felony."

Polly Schaafsma, an archaeologist who studies Native American rock art across the U.S. West and Southwest, said she comes across petroglyph defacement "constantly" in her work.

She recounted how a petroglyph found in Southern New Mexico depicting a rain deity was destroyed by the family who owned the property because they were "afraid of it," she said.

"We often think that if something's outdoors, it doesn't matter. If it's inside a building, then it's got some value or something," Schaafsma said. "There's a lack of understanding of the landscape and meaning of [petroglyphs] for Indigenous people."

Such sites often are considered shrines with significance in Native religions, she said. "So when you go out there with your spray can, you are attacking a church, essentially."

Schaafsma said she suspects local teens may be to blame for the recent attack and that it was rooted in a lack cultural empathy.

"It's total desecration," she said. "It's a cultural conflict, in a sense, being carried out by teenagers even though they wouldn't see it that way."

Santa Fe County Commissioner Rudy Garcia, whose District 3 includes La Cieneguilla, said the damage of the petroglyphs was "disheartening," but he was encouraged by the number of people who reached out to him with a desire to help.

He said he plans to work with Mathis, fellow commissioners "and the community to see what we need to do out there in regards to security, law enforcement and cleanup. It cannot continue to be vandalized."