Tribe May Lose Artifacts An Ohio Museum Wants The Nez Perce To Return The Indian Handiworks Now Displayed At Spalding Park

An elk-horn riding crop: 30 cents.

Deerskin leggings: $2.50.

One bison hair rope: 18 cents.

These items were among Nez Perce Indian handiwork bought by a minister for a total of $27 back in the 1840s. Now valued at $600,000, the collection has created an emotional standoff between the tribe and the Ohio Historical Society.

The tribe thinks the items should stay on display, as they have for 16 years, at the Nez Perce National Historic Park in Spalding, Idaho.

“To us, it’s our culture and history,” said Richard Ellenwood, a full-blooded Nez Perce and former tribal council member.

But the historical society, which owns the items, wants them shipped to Ohio. This spring, the society sent the Nez Perce a letter demanding return of the collection by the end of the year.

“All of a sudden, we get this letter saying ‘We want it back,”’ said Ellenwood.

The tribe is appealing to foundations, movie stars, corporations and private donors to help come up with enough money to buy the collection, appraised five years ago at $600,000.

The items - moccasins, leather bags, hats, shirts and beaded dresses - are among the oldest known Nez Perce artifacts.

For its part, the historical society says its request is just a routine checkup. Ohio curators want to inspect the items for deterioration. The collection is maintained now by the National Park Service.

“The collection has been out there since 1979,” said Ann Frazier, a spokeswoman for the historical society. “It’s very routine for museum organizations to recall items for examination and maintenance.”

Frazier said she didn’t know when - or if - the items would come back to Idaho.

“I don’t know that we’ve thought that far ahead,” she said.

The tribe doesn’t want the collection to leave at all.

“I don’t want my grandchildren or my people traveling to Ohio to view something that’s part of our ceremonies,” Ellenwood said. “They’d come home with heavy hearts.”

To keep the collection, the tribe is trying to come up with $600,000 in hopes of buying the items.

But buying the collection today likely would cost even more than the appraised cost five years ago. Frazier said the historical society would probably get the collection reappraised before selling it.

“We’d be irresponsible if we didn’t do that,” she said.

It’s unlikely, Frazier said, that the society would donate the collection to the tribe.

“We rarely give items away,” she said. “Our responsibility is to maintain collections for the people of Ohio. I think we’d have some explaining to do.”

The 19 items in the collection were bought in the 1840s by the Rev. Henry Spalding, a Presbyterian minister living among the Nez Perce. Spalding shipped the Indian items to an Ohio doctor named Dudley Allen.

“It eventually made it’s way to us,” said Frazier.

The National Park Service tried to buy the collection in 1979 for its visitor’s center, but the society declined to sell. In 1993, the society’s board of directors told its staff to discuss a possible sale to the National Park Service, but no agreement ever was worked out.

The historical society first said in March 1992 that it wanted the collection back.

“That was delayed,” said Frazier. “The tribe indicated that they’d like to keep the collection for a while, and we were agreeable. But now we’ve delayed this three years.”

“Our feeling was that the National Parks were going to take it over as part of their collection,” said Ellenwood. “But due to budget cuts, they can’t afford it, either.”

Frazier said the Dec. 31 deadline for return of the collection doesn’t mean the tribe couldn’t buy the collection after that.

Under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, tribes sometimes can force the return of stolen artifacts.

But since Spalding apparently paid for the items, Ellenwood said it’s unlikely the tribe would win such a case.

“If they’d have dug these things up, then we’d have a case. But they didn’t.” he said.

Ellenwood said he’s saddened by the thought of the artifacts sitting in a museum in Ohio, 2,000 miles away from their roots.

“We hope there’s somebody out there that will hear our prayers and give us support,” he said. “If not, I guess they (the items) go back. There’s no other way of looking at it.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo