A descendant of Native American civil rights pioneer Standing Bear is now in talks with Harvard University to have a tomahawk once belonging to the Ponca chief repatriated. Earlier this month, GBH News first reported on Brett Chapman’s effort to get Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to turn over the relic. In a follow-up interview with GBH All Things Considered host Arun Rath, Chapman said that conversations with the school are getting underway.
“They are moving forward, albeit I would say somewhat slowly,” Chapman said.
How the tomahawk ended up in the museum's possession is not entirely clear, though it was likely via lawyer John Lee Webster. Webster represented Standing Bear during his successful 1879 lawsuit to have his civil rights recognized by the United States government, putting him among the first Native Americans to win such recognition. After his court victory, Standing Bear gave Webster the tomahawk as a symbol of gratitude.
Chapman has been pushing Harvard to return the tomahawk, and his effort is gaining traction. According to the Harvard Crimson, which first reported the negotiations, Peabody director Jane Pickering agrees with Chapman that the tomahawk does not belong in the museum’s collection, saying the Peabody is “invested in the tomahawk going back to Oklahoma or Nebraska, back to the Ponca community."
Chapman said he believes an initial letter he sent to Pickering made an effective case for the tomahawk’s repatriation.
“I didn't threaten to sue Harvard, I didn't threaten to file any legal action, and I didn't really challenge their legal right to have this item,” Chapman said. “What I did was, when I wrote this letter, was proceed on an argument of morality — that it's morally right that it should be returned to the Ponca people forthwith.”
Besides Chapman, Harvard is in contact with the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma regarding the tomahawk’s return.
The effort has attracted the attention of the Nebraska state legislature. Chapman went before the legislature last week to testify on a resolution calling on Harvard to repatriate the tomahawk.
Chapman said talks with the school are set to continue this week, with a meeting scheduled between Harvard officials, himself, and Ponca leaders from Nebraska and Oklahoma, who according to Chapman will take the lead in deciding on the tomahawk’s fate.
“I respect Native American sovereignty, and it's up to these tribal leaders to decide what they want to do with it and how they want to get it and all of that,” Chapman said. “But if it were me, I would be demanding immediate repatriation.”
