Planned auction of items from reservations raises questions

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Planned auction of items from reservations raises questions

Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press
Updated 12:10 pm, Saturday, June 4, 2016

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Tribal leaders are questioning the ethical and legal implications of an auction featuring more than 100 items collected on two Native American reservations, including guns from the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre and a ceremonial pipe that belonged to one of the most respected tribal chiefs.

Bidding for items gathered from the late 1880s through the early 1900s on South Dakota's Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations opens June 11 through Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. Similar auctions have spurred condemnation by many Native American tribes whose leaders believe sacred and ceremonial items, such as pipes, should be returned to the tribes, and most recently, prompted the federal government to intervene.

Three guns to be auctioned were salvaged from the site of the Wounded Knee massacre, where on Dec. 29, 1890, about 300 Native American men, women and children were killed by the 7th Cavalry in the final battle of the American Indian Wars. And at the center of the collection is a ceremonial pipe once owned by the legendary Lakota Chief Red Cloud.

"I find it very insulting," said Trina Lone Hill, the historic preservation officer for the Oglala Sioux Tribe. "It was a massacre; it wasn't just a skirmish. It was women and children being killed."



Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Planned-auction-of-items-from-reservations-raises-7963275.php

[3hummingbirds]

1. native American auction

I am not Native American but I am still appalled at the idea of auctioning items belonging to the tribes. Isn't there some way of stopping this?

[hopemountain]

2. it is my understanding native american "relics" are to be

repatriated to their respective tribes.

perhaps because the guy is an out of state private owner he can do whatever he pleases?

it is insulting for this man to hold this auction on the reservations where items from a hungry, destitute people were pawned for foodstuffs at his grandfathers' stores.

[Judi Lynn]

4. You're so right, hopemountain. Sorrowful. n/t

[jwirr]

13. Those relics that are supposed to be repatriated to their

respective tribes are the ones found in various museums. This family seems to own them as a result of trades and deals made with individual natives at the trading post they owned.

There is no law that says this has to change. On the reservation I live on you can see this in the land deals that were made between individuals and settlers years ago. Many of the legal papers on property today begin with the explanation of how the land came into non-native hands. The courts do not overturn the sales unless the deals can be proved to be fraudulent.

Even today some of the tribes in Montana where coal is mined the land is in the hands of individuals and the coal barons buy the mineral rights from the individual.

So as much as I think those relics should be in the hands of the tribe I think they are going to have to buy them if they can. It would be nice if someone who is rich would purchase them and turn them over to the tribe.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Deeply offensive. Those items really aren't his to sell, regardless of how many great-grandparents

of his claimed to own them.

He should be ashamed of himself. This tells me he has no conscience.

He should hand them all back to the descendants of the people to whom they belonged, or their representatives.

Thank you for your comment, 3hummingbirds, and welcome to D.U.

[pandr32]

10. I completely agree

I seem to remember paintings that were taken from Jewish families by the Nazis and wound up in private ownership were given back to descendants of original owners when proven. It would be very easy to prove what is of indigenous nation's origin--heck the sale already claims that they are.

This should be halted somehow.

[Bayard]

5. Seriously Warped

How about auctioning off George Washington's false wooden teeth, or the shoes President Kennedy was wearing when he died?

[glinda]

6. I find it out of tradition to gift a ceremonial pipe to a young boy of other race.

[JDPriestly]

7. I bought rugs and woven pieces as well as jewelry from Native

Americans over the years. Are they mine?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. George Zimmerman got a good price for his gun, ...

... so why shouldn't a tribe sell guns from Wounded Knee? Maybe they can use the money for good purposes.

[csziggy]

11. It's not a tribe selling the guns and other artifacts

From the link in the OP:

The entire collection belongs to Paul Rathbun, a Colorado resident whose grandfather and great-grandmother gathered the items back when the family owned a general store near Pine Ridge, a sprawling expanse of badlands on southwestern South Dakota and home to the Oglala Sioux. Rathbun said the items have been "sitting in trunks or plastic containers," and he hopes they will end up in the hands of a group or individual who can properly take care of them.

[Zorra]

9. They would even sell the bones of the ancestors of the Lakota people

if they could find them.

Collectors. Capitalist values.

[Vinca]

12. The tribe should get legal advice.

If the relics weren't sold by the tribe to the current owner, that means someone stole them off the reservation. An auction house can't auction off stolen property.