The People et al. v. David Van Horn et al.

David Van Horn (defendant) ran an archaeological-survey company with his wife. The City of Vista, California, hired him to conduct a survey of private land the city was considering purchasing and developing. While conducting the survey, Van Horn discovered an ancient grave and the skeletons of two males. Both skeletons wore large millstones, called metates, around their necks. In accordance with California’s health-and-safety code, Van Horn notified the local coroner of his findings. The coroner, believing that the grave might belong to an ancient Native American tribe, notified the Bureau of Indian Affairs and instructed Van Horn to take the remains to a local museum for studying. Van Horn delivered the skeletons to the museum and took the metates to his laboratory. The museum’s anthropologist concluded that one of the skulls was characteristic of inhabitants native to an area in California but did not identify either skeleton as belonging to a particular tribe. Several Native American groups learned about the discovery and asked that the remains be reburied where they were found, along with the metates, in accordance with a California law prohibiting anyone from removing human remains and related artifacts from the ground without permission of Native American groups. Van Horn refused to return the metates, arguing that California’s law prohibiting the unauthorized removal of human remains did not also apply to artifacts found with bodies, especially if the items were not known to be associated with Native American burials, which metates were not. The State of California and California’s Native American Heritage Commission (collectively, California) (plaintiffs) sued Van Horn and his company seeking a permanent injunction requiring him to surrender the metates. The trial court granted the injunction after California filed a motion for summary judgment. Van Horn appealed.