We just received a potential donation of an Indian headdress. The local donor who is cleaning out for a move, received the piece as a gift about 20 years ago and knows no more about it. They’ve had it on display in their home.
Our mission and collection plan dictates that objects need to have a connection to our local area history. I’m assuming this headdress is lacking in that connection. I have not contacted our collection committee, but it has been suggested that we take the piece into our “education” collection, where the local connection requirement is less stringent. To me, taking any Native American piece without a known provenience and history is not a good idea. We do not know about how the item was acquired or how it should (or shouldn’t) be displayed.
Does anyone know how I can find out a tribal connection? Any suggestions about taking such an unknown and potentially questionable artifact into a museum’s collection that was unsolicited?
Thanks!
Katie Adams
Tread of Pioneers Museum