Coming Home to Nez Perce Country: The Niimíipuu Campaign to Repatriate Their Exploited Heritage

In 1847 two barrels of “Indian curiosities” shipped by missionary Henry Spalding to Dr. Dudley Allen arrived in Kinsman, Ohio. The items inside included exquisite Nez Perce shirts, dresses, baskets, and horse regalia--some decorated with porcupine quills and others with precious dentalium shells and rare elk teeth.

Donated to Oberlin College in 1893 and transferred to the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) in 1942, the Spalding-Allen Collection languished in storage until Nez Perce National Histo...