When Jaime presented Moorehead’s images to the Berkshire Museum, they were considered evidence to constitute duress in support White Earth’s claim for repatriation. The museum then decided to repatriate a drum collected during this same time-period.
When we started writing this story, White Earth Nation had the repatriated items and Moorehead’s photographs. I went looking for Moorehead’s affidavits to include first person perspectives on these difficult times in the comic so that when White Earth Nation members read the issue they would hear their relatives in their own words describing their experiences. That brought us to The Ohio History Connection and their collection of Moorehead’s papers.
Digital copies of these documents that bear witness, in community members’ own words, to colonial oppression and hard times are now residing at the reservation. In response to our request and offer of funds to have the affidavits scanned and shared with White Earth Nation Tribal Archives through Jaime, the Ohio History Connection agreed to do so for free because the materials were being returned home and under control of the originating tribe. Jaime as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer determines what is appropriate from these archives to share publicly in the comic. In this way, we are following the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials.
Our work with Jaime to tell a story about repatriation ended up enabling one more return, bringing the material culture, images, and voices of community members together in one place and back home. That will also be part of the story in this comic.
Another lesson we learn in this issue is that when seeking repatriation from museum collections, it is good to think beyond the items alone and to ask for the return of associated documentation, as held in the museum and elsewhere. Many thanks to Jaime and the Andover and Berkshire museum staff that she invited into this storytelling project with us, and to Ohio History Connection for facilitating another meaningful return to White Earth Nation.