Missouri cave housing 1,000-year-old Native American paintings sold at auction

A cave near the town of Warrenton, Mo. which houses thousand-year-old Native American paintings on its walls was auctioned off this week. The cave was sold on Tuesday by St. Louis-based firm, Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers, and went for a total price of $2.2 million.

The Daily Mail reports that sale was made by a family in St. Louis who has owned the 43 acres of land since the 1950s. And while a representative from the auction house maintains that laws are in place to protect the cave’s preservation, criticism continues to abound.

Smithsonian Magazine describes how the cave—whose walls are covered with depictions of animals, mythical creatures and people—was once used by Native American tribes during sacred rituals, burying the dead and other traditions. The two-cave system was even explored by European adventurers in the 1700s who left their names scribbled alongside the Natives’ work.
Many have publicly decried the cave’s sale—including Natives such as those of the Osage Nation—comparing it to an act of sacrilege.

“Auctioning off a sacred American Indian site truly sends the wrong message,” says Carol Diaz-Granados, a research associate at Washington University’s anthropology department in St. Louis. “It’s like auctioning off the Sistine Chapel.”
“Our ancestors lived in this area for 1,300 years,” reads a statement from the Osage Nation. “This was our land. We have hundreds of thousands of our ancestors buried throughout Missouri and Illinois, including Picture Cave.”

https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2021/09/missouri-cave-housing-1000-year-old-native-american-paintings-sold-at-auction.html