Welcome!!! To an adventure in Texas artifact hunting!    |     home                                                    TAAA Credo  Texas Amateur Archeological Association CREDO/By-Laws       The TAAA is a conservative organization of archeological minded amateurs who are committed to upholding the laws of the United States and the by-laws of this organization.    We are the common working person to the very wealthy.  We are the uneducated to the holders of doctorates.  We all have one common identity.  The members of the TAAA are in awe of the ancient people who came to this country before us.  We revere these ancient peoples art of making tools, weapons, and other gadgetry of survival.  Our members are the voting, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens of this great country that we now call America.  We realize that, as a group, we find the majority of all archeological discoveries.  By joining the TAAA, we have decided to learn about what we are finding and how to document these finds.  Members of the TAAA agree to help keep our artifacts-hunting privileges on private property.  By using the democratic government given to us by our forefathers to support the wishes of the majority, we can and will accomplish these goals.  When we learn, we will help teach our fellow artifact hunters about what they are finding and how to document their finds.  When all of the campsites and artifacts are gone, we will leave our information for those who have the ability and tools to decipher the clues we leave behind like the ancient ones did for us.    The members of the TAAA believe that by taking our young people to the outdoors and teaching them about the people who were here before us, we not only teach them about the ancient ones before us, and how they lived, but we can also teach our children how to respect other peoples property and keep their minds busy on the positive so that they will become solid members of the great nation of ours.    While documenting our finds (call or write the TAAA for accepted means of documentation), we will respect the private property rights of the people who now occupy these lands.  To protect the landowners that let us hunt artifacts on their property exact locations will not be given without the written permission of the landowner.      When given permission to hunt on private property, members of the TAAA will respect the landowner’s property by leaving all gates open or closed as we find them.  When we leave, we will carry out all trash that we brought onto the property.  We will stay on the property owners defined roads and not cut across the grasslands.  We will take from his property only what we have been give permission to take.  When we present our membership card to the landowner, he will learn that our members know how to respect his property, thus making it easier for all of us to find new areas to hunt.      On the other hand, anyone proven breaking laws of the federal government, the state, or our association will be banished from our organization with no refund of dues.  We must be an organization that is proud of what we do and willing to follow the laws of this country as we are expected to do in our everyday lives.  Every members actions reflect the reputation of our organization.    As members, we know that there must be laws to protect our antiquities on public property where archeological evidence is still intact.  We will support any reasonable law but will campaign to repeal some of the absurd and unreasonable antiquity laws that make criminals out of common everyday citizens.  As an association, we believe the key to saving archeological information is not to pass unnecessary laws, which must be policed, but to spend those moneys on educating the public so that the information can be used and not hidden.    If asked, we will share our documentation with professional organizations in accordance with the rules of our creed.     We are caring amateurs who hope to document for finds for the advancement of archeology in North America as we pursue evidence of the ancient people who came here before us. By joining the TAAA you are supporting our cause to surface hunt, dig, collect, buy and sell artifacts as the laws of this state dictate. As a member of the TAAA you are required to sign this credo verifying that you have read it and will abide by it.  Breaking any of the rules above, paid dig or other TAAA function subjects you to removal from the organization, paid dig or other TAAA function without refund.