Petition to Implore the U.S. Navy to Suspend its Plans to Relocate the Artifact Collections from San Nicolas Island to China Lake

The US Navy intends to transfer Native American artifacts recovered from San Nicolas Island to the Naval Weapons Station, China Lake, some 250 miles away.  These artifacts have been successfully curated on the island for the past 25 years.  The facility meets the federal standards for curation and it is located as close to where the artifacts were recovered as feasible.  This is important because the artifacts were recovered from a marine environment and the China Lake facility is in the desert and does not have appropriate climate controls.  It is also of great importance to the Gabrielino descendants whose ancestors occupied the island and produced the artifacts.  For the past 25 years, the artifacts have been used in a variety of education programs to promote the protection of archaeological sites on the island.  The island curation facility is appropriately funded and staffed and the collections have been available to researchers interested in coastal and island prehistory.  The China Lake facility is not properly staffed, has very limited potential for use of the collections, and is located far from their original location.  Importantly, the proposed move is being undertaken over the objections of the Native American descendants and archaeological researchers, and without consultation with the interested public.

Therefore, we the undersigned, implore the US Navy to suspend its plans to relocate the collections.