The 1906 Antiquities Act expressly forbids taking ancient artifacts from reservations. Tribal Chairman Gregg Bourland says the Sioux want to display a cast of Sue’s skeleton at a local museum and donate the bones to a college. But an attorney for the fossil hunters says the act does not cover prehistoric fossils like Sue. And although Sue was on Indian trust land, he argues, it was trust land “deeded” to a private individual. The matter now rests with U.S. Attorney Kevin Schieffer. He won’t comment but a court battle is likely.
