I lived in Washington State during the 1990-2003. During that time they did pass some regulations making it potentially illegal for any non-native American or American Indian (still drives me nuts, WTF am I?) to own or possess tribal artifacts. This came about when the "Kenniwick Man", a naturally mummified specimen of primitive man (est.10-14,000 years old) was discovered poking out of the bank of, I believe, the Yakima River in Eastern Washington. It was the oldest, best preserved specimen of our ancestors ever found in north America and was certain to help answer many questions about the origins of North Americas Earliest settlers. It had barely been examined by anthropologist, when one of the local tribes up there claimed it as being from one of their "sacred burial sites", got a court order from a liberal judge, and without a trial, seized it from the University it was being studied at. I have not kept up on the story, but to the best of my knowledge, it has not been seen since. At the time, the tribal elders refused to let anyone even take pictures of the remains for study. Part of the judges ruling established the right of tribes to claim any and all artifacts that could be claimed under the auspices of "preserving their heritage". There was talk that this made it illegal for non-native Americans (gritting my teeth!) to own or possess any native American artifacts, including arrowheads and spear points. I actually received a box of Clovis points as a white elephant, or joke, Christmas present at that years Company Christmas Party by an engineer that feared prosecution. (HA HA, they were from a museum auction in Georgia, where they were found, thanks, Dave!).
The upshot is... you need to be careful who you talk to about your find or you may lose it. While the temptation to cash in on your find is no doubt strong, I advise caution and patience.
The first thing you need to do is establish your right to own it, BEFORE YOU SHOW IT TO ANYBODY ELSE. And whatever you do, don't sell it without that right established. When artifacts and antiquities of significant value suddenly show up, they attract attention. And believe me, if you don't have your ducks in row, whoever you sell it to will rat you out in a heartbeat should it get the wrong kind of attention. Just ask Peter Larson, he's the paleontologist that was sent to Federal Prison after recovering "Sue" (the largest and most complete T-Rex fossil in history) after it was seized by the Federal Government, despite the fact that he had not only obtained permission from the land owner (trustee) and paid him $5000 for the bones.
If it was found on private land that you own, great. You still need to study the laws in that jurisdiction (starting with city/county and working your way up through the fed). If it was on someone else's property, they have a right to claim all or part of it (unless they gave you permission to hunt there). If it is public land that is another thing. You may have to file a claim for title to it. If nothing else, you will probably need to document where you found it.
If you want to PM me some details, I can probably at least get you pointed in the right direction. (Not that I have done anything to earn your trust, either)
In any case, good luck!
Oh, and Kennewick Man? The researchers who did manage to examine the remains before they were "claimed" by the tribe, said that the features of the skull more closely resembled those of specimens found in European fossils than features normally associated with American Indian remains. In other words, testing may have proved that he wasn't a member of that or any other tribe as it is referred to now.
