Rain in the Face's Waistcoat

[Diane Merkel]

More from Scotland! Scroll about halfway down through the article to see this excerpt:

In their most widely publicised repatriation, Glasgow agreed to return the Ghost Dance Shirt to the Lakota Sioux, after being approached by their representatives. "The evidence we had," explains Lynch, "indicated that the shirt was a religious object specific to that tribe, and that it was taken from the body of a warrior."

The Ghost Dance Shirt, thought to have been stripped from the body of a victim of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, was originally obtained by Glasgow museums in the early 1890s, when William F Cody - "Buffalo Bill" - brought his renowned Wild West Show to Glasgow. However, Glasgow decided not to accede to a similar request for the return of a waistcoat also acquired during the Wild West Show's sojourn in the city, currently on display in Kelvingrove Museum. The waistcoat is thought to have belonged to Rain in the Face, a Hunkpapa Sioux warrior among those credited with killing General Custer at Little Bighorn. "There is no indication the waistcoat left Rain in the Face's possession by anything other than legal means," says Lynch. "In fact Rain in the Face was still alive 15 years after Glasgow museums got it." Lynch was among those who gave evidence to the House of Commons committee on culture, which resulted in a recommendation that museums give due consideration to the claims of "originating communities", but that a "strong presumption against disposal" should be the basis on which any claims are considered.

Article: news.scotsman.com:80/entertainment.cfm?id=160042007