Talking God (1989)

When Henry Highhawk, a Smithsonian conservator who is part Navajo, sends a coworker the bones of her famous ancestors to protest the museum's policy of not returning ancestral remains to Native Americans, a warrant is put out for his arrest. Arriving at a tribal ceremony in New Mexico, Highhawk is arrested by Tribal Police Officer Jim Chee. Meanwhile, fellow detective Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is called to investigate a seemingly unrelated case of a nearby murder victim whose body has been carefully stripped of identification.

As the threads of each case unravel, it becomes clear that Highhawk is wanted by others besides the police and is involved in more than just grave robbing and that the investigations of both officers are more closely related than either had imagined.