Maybe I understood this wrong ...
... but the claim was made that it wasn't animal remains anymore, but fossilized animal remains. It was a fossil that had basically become a mineral, so it's part of the land and thus property of the Federal Government?
How does bone become a mineral? (not from a scientific standpoint, but more from a moral standpoint ... if that makes any sense)
I was always under the impression that a mineral was something that could be used for fuel, or perhaps had a value like a gem, or something to that effect.
So 80.000 year old human remains are no longer human remains, but minerals as soon as they're actually fossilized?
I'm really trying to understand just how they got away with this under that guise.
It's disgusting how they show up there with 30+ federal agents, the national guard, trucks, forklifts, the works, but not one letter or phone call in advance saying "we've heard this and that and would like to hear your version of it before further steps are taken".
Land of the free? My ass it is.