After nearly a decade of diving beneath rivers across the Midwest, Ed the Diver & Christie B. have grown accustomed to what lies beneath the surface.
The engaged couple, who operate Ed the Diver, spend their days cleaning waterways full time, removing discarded fishing gear and trash, rescuing wildlife when needed, and recovering lost property. To help support their cleanup mission and sponsors, they also retrieve, clean and sell many of the glass bottles and thousands of fishing lures they recover from rivers each year.
Most dives end much the same way.
One recent Saturday in Wisconsin did not.
While cleaning a familiar stretch of the Menominee River near Marinette, Ed Bieber noticed what looked like nothing more than a flat stone resting on the sandy riverbed. By the end of the day, that ordinary-looking object would send the couple on an unexpected journey that ended not with a private collection or a sale, but in the hands of the Menominee people.
On June 30, Ed shared the experience on Facebook, calling it "an HONOR" to personally deliver the pendant to the Menominee Historic Preservation Cultural & Logging Museum in Keshena, Wisconsin. The post quickly attracted widespread attention as readers praised both the rarity of the discovery and the couple's decision to donate it for public preservation.
"What an HONOR my Mermaid and I had today, as we traveled to the Menominee Historic Preservation Cultural & Logging Museum in Keshena, WI, and handed over a beautiful Native American pendant that we recently found in the Menominee River in Marinette, WI."
He continued:
"It's estimated that this pendant is over 1,000 years old and 100% a Native American pendant!"
Ed added that museum and tribal officials "were VERY thankful that we brought it to them and were amazed at its beauty." (Ed the Diver Facebook post, June 30, 2026.)
A Routine Dive
When Ed the Diver & Christie B. entered the Menominee River that Saturday, they expected another ordinary cleanup.
According to the EagleHerald, they were simply hoping to recover the kinds of items they routinely remove from local waterways—lost fishing lures, old bottles and scrap.
Instead, something unusual caught Ed's attention.
"I noticed a flat-looking kind of rock … it was just on top of the sand," Ed told the EagleHerald. "I saw it, and I was like, 'What is that?' It just looked really unique, so I grabbed it and put it in the kayak."
The location itself was hardly new.
"We were diving in the Menominee River last Saturday, a spot that we have been to many times, probably my fifth or sixth time just this year alone," Ed said. "It is a spot where we usually collect a lot of lures … and then we find old bottles, clay pipes, white buttons, marbles, all sorts of things."
Only after returning to shore did the object begin to stand out.
As they spread out the day's haul for photographs—a routine part of documenting their cleanup work—the stone looked different from everything else they had recovered.
"Afterwards, when we were doing the photos and stuff, I said to Christie, 'I think this is something special,' and she said, 'Yeah, I think it is,'" Ed recalled.
Letting the Experts Decide
Neither Ed Bieber nor Christie B. claims to be an archaeologist.
Rather than speculate about the object's origin, they contacted people they had recently met through cleanup efforts involving the Menominee community.
"We had made some friends with some tribal members and we sent the picture to Tyler Lorenz and Luke Heider ... and he is the one that confirmed that it was 100% Native American," Christie told the EagleHerald.
According to Christie, representatives of the Menominee Tribe informed them that the pendant was an authentic Native American artifact. They also told the couple it is estimated to be more than 1,000 years old. A tribal archaeologist is now preparing a detailed report.
That confirmation immediately led to another question—not what the pendant was worth, but what they were supposed to do next.
Choosing the Right Path
Instead of keeping the pendant, Ed Bieber and Christie B. researched Wisconsin's legal requirements for Native American artifacts.
"We went online, and we looked at the proper legal channels of what you do if you find an artifact that is Native American in the state of Wisconsin," Christie said.
"Everything is protected by the state and federally, so we just want to make sure we were not doing anything illegal, obviously."
Their research led them to the Menominee Historic Preservation Cultural & Logging Museum and the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The decision soon became clear.
The pendant belonged with the Menominee people.
"They actually had someone from legislative over there, and we signed documents to donate it to the Menominee Historic Preservation Cultural & Logging Museum," Christie said.
"They are going to show that we are getting proper credit for finding it, but it is not in our hands anymore, and we want to do the right thing and show integrity and honor and respect."
The museum plans to preserve the pendant and place it on public display, allowing others to learn from an object that remained hidden beneath the river for centuries.
A Homecoming
The reaction from members of the Menominee community confirmed they had made the right choice.
"Everybody that was there was very emotional," Christie recalled. "They hugged us, some were almost in tears. They were just very in awe and thankful that we returned it to them, the proper place so everybody can enjoy it and see it for what it is worth."
Others had different ideas.
"We had so many people say, 'Why don't you just sell it?' We would have never done that," Christie said. "We have more integrity than that … it is not about the money to us; it is about doing the honest and right thing."
For Ed, who has spent about nine years diving rivers and lakes across the Midwest, it was unlike anything he had ever found.
"It is the first time I have ever found anything like that," he told the EagleHerald. "It is pretty cool."
Yet his Facebook post focused less on the discovery itself than on where the pendant ultimately ended up.
"This was the first time in 9 years of diving that I've ever found something like this and we are beyond happy that it is in the right hands now."
"The feeling is hard to explain, but my Mermaid and I feel blessed, without a doubt!"
For Ed the Diver & Christie B., discoveries like this are exceptionally rare.
Most days are spent pulling trash from rivers, recovering lost property, rescuing wildlife, speaking to community groups and encouraging others to care for the waterways around them. Alongside their cleanup work, they also support environmental stewardship through their nonprofit, Midwest Environmental Restoration, helping organize community cleanups and donating recovered equipment to local organizations.
Ed closed his Facebook post not by celebrating the pendant, but by looking ahead to the next cleanup.
"We look forward to cleaning up MANY more waterways and making them a safer place for living creatures to enjoy and live in."
The ancient pendant may prove to be one of the most remarkable discoveries of their years underwater.
But for Ed Bieber and Christie B., the greater reward wasn't finding something rare.
It was making sure it found its way home.
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