The CCC workers’ response to finding the miner in 1935 — removing him, studying him, displaying him in a glass case — was entirely consistent with the practices of the era.

It was not an exceptional act of insensitivity.

It was a normal response to an archaeological discovery, following the norms of a period in which the rights and interests of living Indigenous nations were not considered a relevant factor in decisions about ancient remains.

The change that occurred between 1935 and the 1970s — when the miner was removed from display — was not primarily a change in scientific practice.

It was a change in moral and political framework, driven by the activism of Indigenous peoples themselves and by a broader cultural shift in how American society thought about race, rights, and the obligations of institutions toward communities they had historically marginalized.