The Smithsonian Institution has officially transferred ownership of a rare 19th-century Ghost Dance shirt to descendants of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre survivors. This landmark move marks a significant shift in the institution's approach to Indigenous repatriation, focusing on objects with deep spiritual and historical trauma.
The shirt, believed to have belonged to a Lakota warrior, was held in the National Museum of the American Indian for decades. Tribal leaders praised the return as a "spiritual homecoming" that honors the resilience of the Lakota people and sets a new precedent for federal heritage laws regarding the restitution of objects from sites of conflict.