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Native American

Stolen Native American artifact recovered after 19 years

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
Circa-1870 Sioux quilled pipe bag decorated with rare cocoon imagery. This is not the bag involved in the theft and recovery but is used for illustrative purposes only.
Circa-1870 Sioux quilled pipe bag decorated with rare cocoon imagery. This is not the bag involved in the theft and recovery but is used for illustrative purposes only.

 

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – A rare Native American artifact that disappeared from the Montana Historical Society Museum in 2003 has been recovered.

Sgt. Jayson Zander with the Helena Police Department says the Sioux pipe bag was recovered after the chief of security for the museum found it listed on a collector website last year.

Zander tells the Independent Record that the artifact had been sold in Wyoming to a collector in Texas in 2009.

Zander says an auction house involved had no idea it was stolen. The bag had sold for $1,900.

Last week, the pipe bag was returned to the museum in Helena.

Museum officials say the original theft of the bag, its travels and trail of ownership are still under investigation.

Zander says a suspect in the case died in 2005.

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Information from: Independent Record, http://www.helenair.com

Visit the museum online at http://mhs.mt.gov/

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