Coming Home to Nez Perce Country: The Niimiipuu Campaign to Repatriate Their Exploited Heritage

In 1847, missionary Henry Spalding shipped two barrels of "Indian curiosities"--exquisite Nez Perce shirts, dresses, baskets, horse regalia, and more--to an Ohio friend. Given just six months in 1993, the tribe launched a brilliant grassroots campaign and raised $608,100 to reclaim their exploited cultural heritage. The author draws on interviews with Nez Perce experts and extensive archival research to tell the fascinating story of the Spalding-Allen Collection. He also examines the ethics of acquiring, bartering, owning, and selling Native cultural history.