An American flag hangs March 5 outside Poulin Antiques & Auctions Inc. at 199 Skowhegan Road in Fairfield. Hannah Kaufman/Morning Sentinel

FAIRFIELD — A human scalp seized in 2022 from Poulin Antiques & Auctions Inc. in Fairfield was repatriated March 10 to the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico, federal officials said.

The scalp, which had been listed for sale on the Fairfield auction house’s website, was seized by the FBI through a federal search warrant obtained in May 2022.

Federal officials determined through forensic testing that the scalp is likely the remains of a member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, according to a Jan. 14 notice published by the National Park Service.

Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Native American human remains and funerary objects can be repatriated to an affiliated tribe upon request.

While forensic testing of the remains did not provide a resolute determination of ancestry, physical and cultural evidence supports a connection to the Apache tribe. This guided the repatriation process, according to Jana Spaulding of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.

“Given the strong likelihood that the remains are Native American,” Spaulding said, “the FBI is handling the remains in a culturally sensitive (manner), and has worked with the leadership of the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico to repatriate them.”

However, the same physical evidence that guided repatriation impeded criminal charges against the auction house.

Illegal trafficking in Native American remains is a violation under the repatriation act, which establishes criminal and civil penalties for violations, levying fines and imprisonment of up to one year and one day for a first-time offense and up to 10 years for subsequent offenses.

No charges were filed against individuals from Poulin Antiques & Auctions at 199 Skowhegan Road in Fairfield because the U.S. Department of Justice could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the remains are Native American and the individual who posted the remains intended to sell such an artifact, Spaulding said.

“In this case, testing for such physical evidence did not produce a result with a sufficient degree of scientific certainty and the investigation revealed no knowledge or intent on the part of the individuals who briefly possessed and posted it for sale to commit the federal crime,” she said.

A sales tag accompanying the seized remains described a “‘Mescallaro’ Apache scalp” belonging to an individual killed at Johnson’s Run in Texas. A beaded pipe bag was also seized from the auction house.

The pipe bag, listed for sale with the scalp, is believed to be an associated funerary object placed near the human remains at the time of death or later, according to the January notice.

When asked this month about the listing of the Native American scalp, a representative from Poulin Antiques & Auctions declined to comment and asked the reporter to leave the building, saying a representative would reach out “when he’s ready.”

Officials were alerted about the scalp three years ago through a tip from outside of Maine, saying Poulin Antiques & Auctions had listed an “Apache scalp” online, according to the affidavit on file at U.S. District Court in Bangor.

The FBI field office in Portland spent almost three years completing the inventory of the human remains and associated funerary items.

In that time, federal officials consulted with affiliated tribal authorities and members of the National Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Program, the National Park Service and others to “ensure the respectful and accurate return of these ancestors,” the FBI wrote in an email.

The Mescalero Apache Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe. Before the reservation period, tribal members were nomadic hunters and gatherers that roamed the Southwest.

According to the January notice, the scalp and pipe bag originally belonged to a widow in New Mexico who was “unaware that her husband had been in possession of them.” The items had been “grouped and consigned for sale” by an auction house in Maine, along with many other items belonging to her deceased husband, federal officials said.

The case has received much attention online. A video about the Poulin Antiques & Auctions listing of the Native American scalp received 2 million views on TikTok in February. One of the viewers was Amanda Loiselle, a 19-year-old college student in Montana who contacted the Morning Sentinel.

Loiselle said she researched the case out of concern.

“They identified it as a Native American scalp this year in January, and Native Americans have protections under the law, and they’re not being charged for it,” Loiselle said. “And obviously, as a human being that cares about other human beings, I called (the auction house).”

She said a representative of Poulin Antiques & Auctions declined to respond to questions, saying the company had not commented publicly on the situation because no reporter had reached out.

Cases of murdered Native Americans and missing Indigenous women often go underreported, Loiselle said.

“It seems like people don’t seem to care when it’s somebody that’s Native American,” she said. “So that kind of just hurt my heart personally that that person has a family, and their scalp is literally being sold as an antique.”