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| This article, from Atlas Obscura, is US-centric; I'd like to see one on other countries' parks. Or perhaps this is a problem unique to the USA. Beware the Legends Behind These National Park Souvenirs  Removing items from national parks is illegal—and at these sites, legend says, it can also come with paranormal consequences. Of course I don't accept the existence of the paranormal. But if myths stop people from being massive dicks, I say: fine. When I was nine years old, my family took a road trip across the American Southwest, including a stop at Petrified Forest National Park. I never visited that as a kid. At some point, I learned that it wasn't a bunch of stone trees, but basically just rocks, I was disappointed. I mean, sure, it's still cool, but I was hoping for a massive grove of petrified trees. Before I could ask, I saw the signs at the museum, warning not only of the guilt (and possible criminal charges) that follow anyone who removes a stone, but also of the people who had taken them anyway, and how they’d lived to regret it. I kind of get the urge to swipe stuff like that. It's true that, like with littering, if one person does it, the impact is minimal. But then, multiply that by something like a million, and you get a problem. Not only do national parks generally have strict rules about removing things from the grounds (hence the old adage, “take only pictures, leave only footprints”), but beyond legalities, legend says that there might be supernatural consequences for taking something from the parks that doesn’t belong to you. "God will punish you for that" is an effective way to keep kids, and some adults, in line. While an appeal to a person's better nature might be preferable, some of us don't have a "better nature." So, what are these cursed souvenirs? Where do you find them, and what happens should you acquire one? I'm not sure it helps to say, "Oh, here's where you can go to get illicit souvenirs, if you don't believe in curses." For visitors to the Petrified Forest, who may be encountering petrified wood for the first time, it’s tempting to bring a piece of this unique substance home. But those who do are breaking the law—and risking one of the infamous national park curses. I also get the urge to be a rebel and break laws. It's probably true that some laws exist to keep us from annoying the rich, but ones like this are for the benefit of everyone. Some Americans, as we've seen especially over the past 9 years, don't want to benefit everyone; just themselves. Now, one might say, "But Waltz, if you don't believe in curses, how do you explain all the people who snuck a hunk of petrified wood out and then their genitals shriveled up or whatever?" Well, bad things happen to people on a distressingly regular basis. If a hundred people smuggle out a chunk of rock, chances are that within the next few months, something unfortunate will happen to one or two of them. They then associate the bad luck with invoking the curse, rather than acknowledging the inherent semi-randomness of life. One of the most dramatic, and perhaps broadest-reaching, “souvenir curses” is associated with Haleakalā National Park—and all of Hawai’i more broadly. Unlike the Petrified Forest, I've actually been to Haleakalā. According to legend, the “curse of Pele,” the Indigenous Hawaiian volcano goddess, will befall anyone who removes the natural materials of Hawai’i, like pumice, black volcanic sand, and obsidian, from the islands. I didn't remove any natural materials from Hawai'i (unless you count their local beer as "natural"), and nothing especially bad has happened to me. Yet. Still, I've often wondered what a former famous footballer had to do with Hawaiian curses. However, despite the name, this curse doesn’t date back to Indigenous Hawaiian beliefs, but to a frustrated park ranger in the middle of the 20th century. This is unbearably hilarious to me. Gettysburg National Military Park is the site of President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address and, prior to that, one of the Civil War’s bloodiest battles... According to Gettysburg Battlefield Tours, a local touring company, those who’ve taken stones have faced divorce, debt, and even jail time after taking stones. Presumably, the jail time is unrelated to theft of park souvenirs. Again, though, let's remember that divorce, debt, and jail time are fairly common hazards of life. Without them, where would country music be? Regardless of personal opinions about the supernatural, I find this sort of thing fascinating, if only as a window into human nature (both good and bad). And, again, even if they're fiction, stories have power. |
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