#native regalia

Native Dance

for @haunting-stims (jingle dress & fancy shawl)

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If you come across a jingle dress or another Native item, plenty of resources exist — especially here in Minnesota — to return it to the person or nation it came from.

Many tribal governments have dedicated cultural offices; staff at just about any Native nonprofit, community center or Minnesota Historical Society site, too, would know who to call, Fairbanks said.

Or, Chavez said, reach out to him directly. You can contact him at [email protected]. His office number is 505-228-8053.

“Even if it ends up not falling within our jurisdiction, we are more than willing to help,” he said.

When it comes to Native regalia, advocates said, the bottom line is that ethical concerns should outweigh any legal questions anyway.

“It shouldn’t be alright for you to own the sacred items of another culture,” Fairbanks said. “There’s no excuse for them to be in non-Native hands.”

If anything, Fairbanks said, the case of Duncan’s dresses demonstrates how the tight-knit Native community springs into action to reconnect people with their sacred objects, whether ancient or contemporary.

“People think, ‘Oh, it’s a long time ago,’ but Native people still hold that pain,” Fairbanks said. “And I think it’s a reason we’re more sensitive about things like this, because this theft isn’t new to us. … It’s just not that hard to get things back to the right people.”