Beginning in the 1930s, my grandmother collected scores and scores of Native American artifacts: baskets and pots, cradleboards and garments, flutes and blankets. My cousins and I inherited these upon her death in 1982. I have recently decided that they belong back with their tribes and have begun to return them. Some I have sent by mail, like the basket I sent to Alaska. Others I have delivered in person. And some are waiting for me to find the tribe where they belong. Not included in this story is a very recent return of Navajo blankets. The Navajo man who came to collect them said, “They will be happy to go home.” Follow this link to read the story of this journey.
I want to thank the seven members of my Linked Descendants’ writing pod, Bev, Buz, Jeff, Lee, Sue, Susan and Tony for the support and suggestions they have offered me as I worked my way through the writing and the emotional process involved in this story.
Author: Sarah Tarr Fleming is a member of Coming to the Table, a mother, grandmother and retired psychotherapist. She lives in California. She is collecting information about her family’s history as enslavers to share with her own descendants and with those her family enslaved. She is also looking for ways to heal wounds through new relationships, memorials and reparations.
Thank you so much for this story about returning the indigenous made baskets to their tribes.
What an amszing story, Sarah, and such testimony to the container CTTT provides us pilgrims on the new way. I can only wish my friend and your cousin Ted Rhodes had been following you and this precious history with his camera! He spoke often –proudly and lovingly of Margaret Fleming back in the day and I know her as a strong positive influence on one of the most culturally conscious people I have ever known.