eBay loophole for sellers of looted Hawaiian artifacts

From Honolulu:

Traders on eBay's online auction site continue to traffic in Hawaiian artifacts, sidestepping prohibitions by being vague about the items' origins.

"The unfortunate thing about it is: If the seller won't volunteer where he/she obtained the artifacts from, it likely represents a legal sale in eBay's eyes," state parks archaeologist Alan Carpenter said.

EBay said it is investigating the latest sale of fishhooks and a stone cutting tool that the unidentified seller admits were dug up at the site of an old fishing village. The State Historic Preservation Office also is looking into the case, "but it's not clear what, if anything, we can do," said historic preservation archaeologist Sara Collins.

In April, eBay changed its policies on Hawaiian historical items after state and federal officials complained that a seller was marketing a Hawaiian bowling stone, called an 'ulu maika, that had been illegally taken from Kaho'olawe. The new policy placed Hawaiian cultural items in the same category as Native American items given certain protections.

Although it's kept beneath the radar pretty well so far, eBay unquestionably facilitates trade in whatever class of object it allows to be listed. As the museum world begins to catch on, there may be more and more pressure on eBay to further tighten its rules on the selling of archeological material. And though I don't have the exact figures handy, the minimal contribution of such material to eBay's total revenues leaves open the eventual possibility of a complete ban (note that eBay quit accepting listings for firearms somewhere around 1997, without any significant outside pressure).

Posted by David on June 25, 2003 2:36 PM