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At a Pierre, S.D. middle school, the 1870s came to life in the form of a cache of items that once belonged to Chief Spotted Tail.
The collection includes a full set of clothing, arrows, a sage bundle, and a full-sized sacred eagle feather headdress once worn by Spotted Tail himself.
SDPB’s C.J. Keene has more.
The headdress, once worn by Chief Spotted Tail, on display during the formal return to South Dakota. (Photo: C.J. Keene / SDPB)
Spotted Tail was a Sicangu Lakota chief and political leader who served as a liaison between his tribe and the United States government on numerous occasions.
In the 1870s, Spotted Tail befriended Indian agent Cicero Newell.
Indian agents were government employees who worked to connect the US government with tribal entities – including the Lakota.
Spotted Tail gave Newell many gifts – and they stayed with the family ever since.
James Newell is a fifth-generation grandson of Cicero Newell. He lives in Washington state.
“My son, who was in his early 40s said, ‘You know dad, isn’t it time to take it out of the closet and give it back?’ I want to say that was probably 2015, and it took a lot of time researching to find out where it was going and who to take it to. ‘It never really belonged to us’ was his response.”
Spotted Tails arrows, the trunk the items were gifted in, and a photograph of Cicero Newell. (Photo: C.J. Keene / SDPB)
On the other end of the exchange is John Spotted Tail, who says it’s overwhelming to see these pieces in living color.
“Myself, I didn’t know this was out there. I was very skeptical when I got the phone call and after thinking about it, I knew it was real and we went and picked it up. We looked at this and we took it into ceremony, and everything was good with it.”
Spotted Tail has a theory for the origin of the items.
“I think it might have come from the Blue Water Battle down in Nebraska, he mainly wore it then. He wore this when he was a young warrior – before he became a chief.”
James Newell and his wife Carmen Cafferky are joined by John Spotted Tail, his wife Tamara Stands, and Looks Back-Spotted Tail at the ceremony. (Photo: C.J. Keene / SDPB)
The Battle of Blue Water Creek – or the Battle of Ash Hollow – took place in Garden County in the Nebraska panhandle.
Led by Chief Little Thunder, Spotted Tail is believed to have been present for the battle, which took place in 1855. At that time, Spotted Tail would have been 32 years old.
Following the return ceremony, the collection of items will be put on display at the state Historical Society Museum in Pierre.
(Courtesy Asm James Ramos / Facebook)
Legislation ranging from children and youth to public safety to small business cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committees Suspense file recently in the California Legislature.
The approval measures were authored by Assemblymember James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla/D-CA) and will be heard by the full assembly in the coming weeks.
Some of the approved bills include The Luke Madrigal Act, which requires a county social worker and probation officer to immediately notify parents or legal guardians, attorneys or parents, court-appointed special advocates, and others when they receive information that children receiving child welfare services, including non-minor dependents, are missing from foster care.
Another bill is about the year-old Feather Alert system, which notifies law enforcement when a Native American is missing.
The others include acts about California education and health care.
Iñupiat maker once known (possibly Port Clarence mission school), Iñupiaq men holding cultural belongings, c. 1890s. Pencil and ink on paper. (Courtesy New Bedford Whaling Museum)
The New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts is opening two major exhibitions that focus on Native art and culture this June.
An art piece called “Breach” is the largest body of work to date.
“Breach” is an ongoing exploration of the historical and contemporary ties between place, community, whales, and the maritime environment.
BREACH #2, Ceramic sperm whale teeth and wooden pallet. (Courtesy Courtney M. Leonard)
The various iterations of the project, created for individual institutions and settings, look at the multiple definitions of the term “Breach”.
“The Wider World & Scrimshaw” is a piece organized by a diverse board of artists and culture bearers in partnership with NBWM curators, and asks how exploration and whaling impacts the production of material culture in this diverse region from the 1700s through today.
The exhibit will go from June 14 through November 11 of this year.
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