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Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Buyer beware when it comes to First Nations artifacts   List John Norris Next   Sitting Bull's headdress on display at ROM   By John Norris Provenance - the stuffing of the controversy over Sitting Bull’s headdress at the ROM - is a significant variable, among others, in determining the authenticity and ultimate monetary value of First Nations artifacts.   An Ontario collector of same states: “Collectors fall into several categories: those that prefer items of historical importance, tribal affiliation, artistic value, item usage, quality, etc. I have a special interest in items of historical importance, specifically items that can be traced to a particular person, place, or event. These, of course, are the more expensive items.”   His collecting history also began with a headdress.   “I began collecting Indian items on my 17th birthday, long, long ago. My father, a gun collector, purchased a war bonnet from a famous U.S. dealer, Arnie Chernoff, and gave it to me as a present. It belonged to Chief Flying Hawk (nephew of Sitting Bull) and came from the M.I. McCreight Collection. I was hooked.”   The bonnet’s forehead area has tipi motifs beaded in white, red and green on a blue background and is flanked with ermine pelts. The collector also has indisputable documents to support the bonnet’s provenance.   One is a hand-written letter from Chief Flying Hawk to M.I. McCreight, dated November 20, 1916. Flying Hawk wrote, “And I send you that my war bonnet.”   The collector also has two photos of Flying Hawk. One is of him with Chief Iron Tail, McCreight, and his son, taken September 2, 1915, at a reception for Chief Iron Tail at McCreight’s summer home, “The Wigwam,” Dubois, PA. It was later printed in McCreight’s book, Fire Water and Forked Tongues, on page 47.   The other photo is of Flying Hawk alone, on page 3.   In addition, the collector has a very desirable bonus. According to McCreight’s early records, Sitting Bull gave his pipe to Chief Flying Hawk just before Sitting Bull was leaving for Canada. (Flying Hawk became chief of the Sioux after Red Cloud).   McCreight writes in three of his books about receiving the pipe from Flying Hawk in 1928, with the words, “The White Chief’s to hold.”   A second official transfer of the pipe was held in Governor Fisher’s office in Harrisburg, PA in 1929. An affidavit written about the 1959 sale of McCreight’s collection attests to the pipe being Sitting Bull’s.   And, finally, after Chernoff acquired the collection from Bernie Braverman, his display books and insurance icy list the pipe as Sitting Bull’s.   “I think the documentation is about as good as it gets,” says the collector. “I have spent the last several decades trying to find artifacts once in the M.I. McCreight Collection. These items were, and are, considered to be of impeccable historical provenance. Though I have found several, more are to be located.   “I don’t collect pottery, baskets, or arrowheads, but I do have a passion for weapons and quality beadwork, specifically Plains artifacts. It would be impossible to pick three favorites, but the documented items I have acquired from the McCreight Collection are near the top of my list.”   Another documented artifact is a pipe bag that belonged to Chief William Spotted Tail. It is beaded in a geometric pattern of red, white, and green with a red and yellow-dyed quilled section dangling beneath.   William Spotted Tail was photographed with the very bag and an eagle feather fan, as he stood next to McCreight at the Sundance Camp, Rosebud Reservation, 1928. A similar photo was also published in McCreight’s book, page 35.   Time was when a collector, in the ‘60s, could buy, for as low as $90, a pair of plain moccasins with, for example, a circular beaded design, a rosette, on the top from Canadian dealers like Av Isaacs, Toronto. Today that same pair can sell for well over $1,000.   The Brant Mackley Gallery in Hershey, PA. offers, on its website, a pair of Northern Plains Sioux, fully beaded on buffalo hide, moccasins, 10” long, circa 1870, for $3,850 U.S.   His Woodland, Maliseet, bead-decorated moccasins, “a very rare form in an unusually large size,” 11 ½”, circa 1860, cost $9,500.   The River Trading Post, East Dundee, IL, sold a pair of fully beaded Sioux moccasins, 10 ¾”, circa 1880-90, for $1,000. It is offering a pair of men’s beaded Kiowa Apache moccasins, sinew sewn on hide, 9 ½”, late 19th century, for $2,400.   (Can you imagine what Sitting Bull’s moccasins would fetch at auction today? His headdress and case? His war shirt?)   “The prices for good material have gone beyond comprehension,” says the collector. “Great material is scarce, and Indian artifacts are now collected for their artistic value. Since the advent of the Antiques Road Show, every item in grandma’s attic is a national treasure.   “A new collector should always buy quality, never quantity. Anyone can build a collection of mediocrity, but the smart collector looks only for excellence.”   Accordingly, he recommends, “Find a knowledgeable, trustworthy mentor. Build a reference library, study, read and study some more, then go out and expect to learn the hard way. We all have the ‘Why didn’t I buy that item?’ and ‘Why did I buy that item?’ story to tell.”   He also cautions about scrutinizing only images of artifacts.   “There are so many reproductions appearing from India, Bulgaria, Germany, etc., unless one can see and examine the item close up, one can never be sure.”   Buyer beware.   Photos: 1 - Sioux Chief Flying Hawk's war bonnet (private collection)   2 - Chief William Spotted Tail and M.I. McCreight, 1928 (private collection)   3 - Cree crewel work and beaded hide short, circa 1890 (Courtesy of Smith Creek Antiques in Port Hope)     Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2011 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster