Tribe's Sacred Artifacts Finally Escape Church Basement

The Wyoming Episcopal Church is marking Indigenous Peoples Day by returning some 200 artifacts to the Northern Arapaho Tribe, which has been fighting for ownership for decades. The diocese has held the artifacts—including ceremonial headdresses, medicine bags, stunningly beaded clothing, bows and arrows, and children's toys—since 1946, when they were donated to the church by Edith May Adams. Adams, a deacon who ran a mission store in Ethete from 1938 to 1946, had received the items from Native Americans who traded them for necessities, per the Church Times. In 2012, tribe members approached the church about using the artifacts in a historical display at a hotel and casino on the Wind River Reservation, but they were initially denied, per the Washington Post.

"There were concerns about us having capabilities of housing them," Jordan Dresser, a former tribe chairman, tells the paper. Though he argues the tribe "always had the cultural expertise" to house the artifacts, Dresser went on to obtain a master's degree in museum studies "so at least one of our tribal members has the technical expertise." The diocese then agreed to loan 25 items, but the fight for ownership continued. An alteration came this year as tribal leaders met with clergy, per the Church Times. "We just came to a recognition that it's wrong [for the diocese] to have the articles," the Rev. Megan Nickles, chair of the church's Wyoming Standing Committee, tells the Episcopal News Service.

During a viewing of the artifacts in July, tribe members were moved to tears. They immediately retrieved items deemed sacred and agreed to accept the remaining items at a later date. The church, which has apologized for its treatment of Indigenous peoples, including through the running of boarding schools, says it hopes the return of the artifacts "is the beginning of reconciliation, healing, and shared community between the Episcopal Church in Wyoming and the Northern Arapaho people," Nickles tells the Post. Dresser says it's "a huge win" to be able "to hold on to our culture and our legacy." The artifacts, previously stored in the basement of diocesan offices, are to be displayed at a museum "where the Arapaho people can come learn about themselves," Dresser adds. (More Wyoming stories.)