Protesters stop the sale of a human skull at a local auction house

A group of Native Americans protested to stop the sale of a human skull at a local auction house Saturday.

The Mebane Antique Auction Gallery in Orange County has various bids on the skull up to $1900.

"We are just horse or dogs," said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, tribe Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation. "I don't see where the humanity is."

Protestors showed up at the auction after Cavalier posted about it on social media.

"I saw it, said Cavalier. "It was like selling my relatives, this could have been a child and they are not treating us not humanely."

She believes the skeleton belonged to a Native American and was from North America around the 1400s.

The auction owner John Lambert pulled the skull from the event after he said a woman in the crowd convinced him not to go through with the sale.

Lambert says he will return the skull to the owner, who's from Chapel Hill, and that owner will work with a local tribal group to address how to handle the remains.

"I hope they do the right thing but I'm not sure," said Lambert.

Lambert says he does not even know if the skull is real and has yet to be authenticated.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office checked in with the district attorney and federal investigators and determined that selling the skull does not violate NC or federal law.