The treasures of the Inca are his legacy.

In 1912 Hiram Bingham, an agent of Yale University and the National Geographic Society, hired a local farmer to lead him to the “Lost City of the Incas.” We know this place now as Machu Picchu.

Bingham was written up in the newspapers at the time as an explorer. Today he is described as an Indiana Jones character. But in reality he was a looter and a grave robber. He lied and conned the Peruvians into letting him “borrow” the treasures of Machu Picchu and then never returned them. Some think he kept many pieces for himself and gave the rest to Yale University.

An op-ed piece in today’s NY Times by former Peruvian First Lady, Elaine Karp-Toledo, describes how Yale University continues the con today.

While curators at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have been arrested for receiving stolen antiquities, Yale’s thieves walk free and get to negotiate the terms of their thievery.

But what of the students, faculty and alumni of Yale? Why no protest from them?

In 2006 Anne and I visited Peru and Machu Picchu. It is a glorious place, a wonder of the world. We met the young Quechua boy whose picture is at the top of this post. He lives in the Sacred Valley, not far from Machu Picchu. He walks an hour and a half down the mountain every day to get to school. At the end of the school day he walks an hour and half to get home. The treasures of the Inca are his legacy. Why does Yale get to keep them?