Yuroks celebrate items’ return

Years of research by the tribe and Smithsonian Institution led to Grace Nicholson, a collector from the early 1900s, was the first set of hands the regalia passed through. Exactly how she came into possession of the regalia is still unknown.

Nicholson had a strong interest in the Native American peoples of the North Coast and traveled from Pasadena every summer for about 15 years to learn about and trade with them. 

The tradable items she bought, mainly baskets, were later sold in her curio shop, all of which have been well-documented. Baskets were commonly sold; however, the regalia used for ceremonial services were not because they hold spiritual importance for tribes, said Buffy McQuillen, repatriation coordinator for the Yurok Tribe.

While Nicholson’s other items were documented, the ceremonial items were not, she said.

“How she ended up acquiring ceremonial items is a good question,” said McQuillen.

Through the 1920s, Nicholson sold much of her collected items to the Museum of the American Indian in New York, which later became a branch of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. 

In 1989 more than 800,000 Native American items, including Yurok regalia, were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution by way of the Museum of the American Indian Act. 

McQuillen’s hunt for the regalia started in 2001 when she started speaking with elder Yurok Tribe member who told stories of the missing ceremonial regalia. After hearing the stories and scouring through collectors’ manuscripts and documents, she began contacting museums around the country about the lost items. 

“Collectors liked to brag about what they had by writing articles in publications,” said McQuillen.

She tracked down the Yurok regalia in 2005 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian branch in Suitland, Md. 

She sent a letter to claim the items in December 2005 after visiting the museum with other tribe members to verify the items earlier in the year. The letter was acknowledged by the Smithsonian in January 2006. 

McQuillen said the Smithsonian’s research process began in 2008.

In order for a tribe to regain items from the museum, the items must meet a certain criteria, including objects that are needed for present day ceremonies or to renew ceremonies that couldn’t be held without the lost objects, said Cara Fama, research specialist for the National Museum of the American Indian.

“It’s been frustrating at different points,” said Fama. “Things have taken longer than what the tribe and museum anticipated.”

McQuillen also decried the length of the process, but praised the Smithsonian’s efforts.

“It went very well. The people I met with were interested in what these items meant to the Yurok people,” she said.

Four Yurok members flew to the museum to collect the items in July. The members drove the regalia back in a rental storage truck during daylight hours only because some of the items could only be transported by day due to spiritual customs, Yurok tribal Council Member Richard Myers said.

He said he was worried something would happen to the regalia the whole way but tried to block out those thoughts.

“I trusted in our prayers, and that’s what brought us home,” Myers said.

The regalia was returned in time to be used in the Yurok’s  Deerskin and Jump dances this year. 

O’Rourke explained that the dances are held for 10 days at feather camps, where tribal members dance and sing for hours. The Yurok Tribe currently has two feather camps, which are composed of several families.  The returned regalia will be used to help form a third feather camp, he said.

“We will be able to complete the circle of camps that should exist,” said O’Rourke.

The Deerskin dance begins August 27, marking the end of the Yurok calendar year and giving thanks to nature for what it provides to the Yurok people.

The Yurok new year is celebrated by the Jump Dance, beginning Sept. 24, which is meant to restore and maintain nature’s balance.