American Indians or Native American crafts, artifacts, grave-related items, and cave formations such as petroglyphs & pictographs from cave walls, rocks, etc, are protected under FEDERAL law. There are serious consequences for selling, buying, or taking such things from the earth, caves, or any sacred grounds of any Tribe.

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Executive Order on Indian Sacred Sites, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, the National Environmental Protection Act and other environmental and cultural laws have been enacted to protect Native Americans & their cultures & sacred places from vandalism, theft, copying, counterfeiting, & other criminal acts that have decimated so many sacred sites, graves, burial mounds, etc. One can use any search engine to look up the specifics of these FEDERAL LAWS.

Since funerary items are considered some of the most sought-after & valuable items that have been ILLEGALLY taken & sold in the U.S. & abroad, it's important to be on the lookout for such items everywhere, eBay included.

Ebay's policy on this states that funerary items are NOT FOR SALE ON EBAY,& also states:

-Native American reproductions must be clearly marked as reproductions in both the title and body of the description. The font size of this text must be identical to that of the rest of the listing.

In addition, these items must be listed in the Native Americana  Reproductions category. If you don't use the correct category or font size, the listing will be ended. This policy applies to all Native American items, including crafts and artifacts.-


How can you tell if an item offered is a funerary item?
Definitely HUMAN REMAINS are NOT something one should seek to sell or buy, not so much as a TOOTH, nor a strand of HAIR!
Sacred or Holy objects, including ceremonial pipes, burial masks, carved and/or painted sticks, dance wands, staffs, bows, arrows, clothing, footwear, beaded objects, baskets, pottery, medicine bundles, dolls, other carved or cloth, or clay figurines, feathered objects of all kinds, & jewelry are all items that may be buried with Native Americans, just to name an obvious few.
Usually, one can get a hint that such items are funerary items by the price asked ,usually quite high, or by keywords, such as 'unearthed', 'shows signs of having been buried', 'very old,ancient', or 'not scheduled for repatriation'. If the description suggests such items were 'acquired legally', then DEMAND that the seller provide PROOF of that! They MUST have had FEDERAL,STATE,TRIBAL written permission to dig on any Federal,State, or Tribal lands. You may be sure that NO Tribe will okay anyone digging up their gravesites, no matter how old they are! The feds get away with this & a few 'archeological groups' do under the guise of 'study', but I don't know one Tribe who appreciates such 'digs', or wants one done!
Such items will show the effects of being buried. Funerary pottery is perhaps the easiest to spot as there will very often be a hole in the burial pottery. There will sometimes be a distinctive smell to burial items, naturally. Signs of mold, mildew, water stains, body fluid stains, all may be present in objects that were buried on or near a body. Signs of worm holes, larvae or any shed remains of insects may be detected on close inspection.
BY LAW all objects offered for sale as NATIVE AMERICAN, or AMERICAN INDIAN must carry clear identification & authentication, as per the Indian Arts & Crafts Act of 1990. If your seller refuses to provide identification, or refuses to prove that he or she has a right to own such items, & has Tribal or Federal permission to sell them, be very wary of buying! Just walk away from such sales! Contact the Tribe he/she claims the items are from, & contact the Indian Arts & Crafts Board so that these questionable items can be investigated.
Some unscrupulous sellers have imported stolen grave items from South & Central American nations & from Mexico, graves that belong to the Indigenous People of that area of the world. We encountered one such seller at a rock & mineral show here in North Carolina. He was from Indiana & was selling 'funeral dolls' taken from the graves of PERUVIAN CHILDREN! When we pressed him to show us proof that he obtained these items legally, he packed up & left the show while we went to notify the show's promoters. Later we discovered his Indiana phone number was no longer in service. You may have similar experiences when you really push for proof of legal ownership!

 While such funerary items are extremely rare, beautiful, well-made, & much to be admired, PLEASE do not buy such items, but REPORT THEM & those engaged in selling them. Have respect for the dead, & for the People who have already lost so much!

And if you 'find' such items, accidentally of course, please contact any known local Tribe so they can identify, claim, & recover such precious things that belonged to their ancestors!