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An example of a circa-1880 Sioux beaded shirt, this one features pictorial beaded strips over the shoulders and down the sleeves, with hand and geometric designs in red blue and green on a white field. Auctioned for $84,000 (inclusive of 20% buyer's premium) on Jan. 29, 2011 by High Noon Western Americana. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and High Noon Western Americana.

Tribal officials object to historic garment sale

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
An example of a circa-1880 Sioux beaded shirt, this one features pictorial beaded strips over the shoulders and down the sleeves, with hand and geometric designs in red blue and green on a white field. Auctioned for $84,000 (inclusive of 20% buyer's premium) on Jan. 29, 2011 by High Noon Western Americana. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and High Noon Western Americana.
An example of a circa-1880 Sioux beaded shirt, this one features pictorial beaded strips over the shoulders and down the sleeves, with hand and geometric designs in red blue and green on a white field. Auctioned for $84,000 (inclusive of 20% buyer’s premium) on Jan. 29, 2011 by High Noon Western Americana. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and High Noon Western Americana.

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – Tribal officials on the Great Plains have objected to the plan of the Southern Oregon Historical Society to sell artifacts that include a shirt described as exquisite and dating as early as the 1830s.

The organization, under financial pressure, has been selling off artifacts that don’t relate to Southern Oregon history, The Medford Mail Tribune reported. The shirt that was to be auctioned in San Francisco on Monday was donated by a Grants Pass resident in 1957 and came from an ancestor who obtained it in Nebraska.

Steve Vance, historic preservation officer with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, says the shirt seems to have ceremonial significance and is the kind of artifact tribes have been unable to get returned.

“It’s basically a slap in the face, but we’ve seen worse,” Vance said.

The paper says the collection, including a few Anglo-American items in addition to Native American objects, is valued at $300,000 to $500,000.

Pat Harper, interim director of the historical society, said a report was commissioned in August to make sure that the sale of the shirt wouldn’t violate the Native American Grave Repatriation Act.

“Items such as shirts are not covered by cultural patrimony,” she said.

She said attempts to sell artifacts to a nonprofit have failed, and the organization couldn’t provide the proper preservation for the shirt.

She said part of the historical society’s mission is to generate sufficient money to preserve the artifacts that relate to Southern Oregon.

“If money were no object, it would be a different story,” she said. “We wish we could have given it away. But that wouldn’t be responsible to our mission.”

Dianne Desrosiers, tribal historic preservation officer for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, said the shirt appears to be quite old, and she’s asked other tribal leaders for information about its significance.

“It’s exquisite, I will say that,” she said.

Vance, basing his observations on a photo, said a semi-circular pattern with points on it inside a circle on the shirt could indicate the seven bands that make up the Sioux. A light blue area could represent waterways and lakes that connect the tribes, he said.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

An example of a circa-1880 Sioux beaded shirt, this one features pictorial beaded strips over the shoulders and down the sleeves, with hand and geometric designs in red blue and green on a white field. Auctioned for $84,000 (inclusive of 20% buyer's premium) on Jan. 29, 2011 by High Noon Western Americana. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and High Noon Western Americana.
An example of a circa-1880 Sioux beaded shirt, this one features pictorial beaded strips over the shoulders and down the sleeves, with hand and geometric designs in red blue and green on a white field. Auctioned for $84,000 (inclusive of 20% buyer’s premium) on Jan. 29, 2011 by High Noon Western Americana. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and High Noon Western Americana.