The Southern Oregon Historical Society's efforts to preserve the history of the region received a shot in the arm Monday when a Cheyenne Warrior Shirt and several other Native American items sold at auction in San Francisco.

The warrior shirt and other pieces in what is referred to as "The Bones Collection" went to a private collector whose winning bid was $280,000. The proceeds from the sale of other items pushed to $369,902 the total coming to SOHS after the deduction of sales commission and insurance.

"This is a substantial amount which will provide us with the beginnings of a fund needed to maintain our core collection," said SOHS board president Dick Thierolf, who attended the auction. 

"The sale of these items," said Thierolf,  "correlates with our mission to preserve artifacts relevant to the Southern Oregon region.  We basically had no dollars to do that before, so it is a step in the right direction.  We can rely on this money for several years as a foundation to build on."

SOHS policies require that proceeds from the sale of deaccessioned items be used for care of the existing collection or and/or future acquisitions. Such income may not be used for general operating expenses or other needs of the society.

A total of 27 lots offered for sale by SOHS sold at the auction conducted by Bonhams and Butterfields, one of the largest companies of its kind in the world.

Items selling in addition to the warrior shirt include: a Cheyenne mirror stick, $32,000; a Navajo classic child's blanket, $28,000; a Navajo chief's blanket, $15,000, and: a Navajo Moki serape, $10,000.

Perhaps the earliest such item from the Cheyenne Tribe still in existence, the warrior shirt dates back to the mid-19th century.

It and other items were donated to SOHS in 1957 by the late Benjamin R. Bones of Grants Pass. It is thought that the shirt belonged to Sicangu Lakota Chief Spotted Tail, born in 1823 with the given name Sinte Gileshka, and who became a warrior and chief during the Indian Wars. Spotted Tail's sister was the mother of Crazy Horse.

Research indicates the shirt probably changed hands in 1867 at Fort McPherson, Neb., where Bones' ancestor, Marquis Cutting, was a member of the Wisconsin Calvary and later ran a trading post. It is thought that Spotted Tail traded many of his possessions, including the warrior shirt and other items, for food and supplies.

On the shirt's mountain sheep leather body are large rosettes, sleeve and shoulder strips from buffalo hide overlaid with porcupine quillwork. Locks of human hair border the strips and panels of red wool frame the neck opening. The rosettes embody Cheyenne symbolism -- that of a corral and a village circle.

The society had been concerned about whether its possession and the potential disposition of the shirt and other items in the collection were ethical and legal and, if so, made sense in light of its mission to be a repository for historic artifacts closely tied to Southern Oregon.

SOHS staff and outside expert interpretations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) deemed the Bones items as having been the personal property of Spotted Tail -- not communally owned -- and thereby not covered by the act. That they were owned and traded away by an individual Native American led to the conclusion that both ethically and legally, they properly came under the ownership of SOHS and could be given away or sold if the society decided to do so.

The SOHS decision to deaccession the Bones collection was also guided by its long-standing philosophy and written policies that state "The Society shall collect and preserve objects and research materials that relate to or are representative of the scope and diversity of human experience in Jackson County and Southern Oregon." Since 1965, SOHS has had a policy in place that states it "may sell, exchange or dispose of artifacts that do not relate to Southern Oregon."

Its decision to sell the Bones collection at auction came some eight years after the Society first broached the issue of what to do with it. Concerns had been raised by SOHS staff regarding ability of the society to properly preserve the collection -- one of the major requirements of its collections policies.

Once it has deaccessioned (decided to get rid of) an item or a collection found to be of little or no relationship to county or region, the society may give or sell it to another nonprofit organization, sell it through public auction or discard it if it poses a hazard or has so badly deteriorated that it is of no value.

SOHS began exploring the first two options as early as 2004 by contacting Native American groups, including the Northern Cheyenne tribe, and museums, including The Smithsonian, but there was little feedback and no further communication.

Selling the Bones collection at public auction -- the third option -- was approved by the society's board of trustees as long as the proceeds went toward collections-oriented expenses. Examples would be costs directly related to the White City collections storage facility and the care and maintenance of the historic Hanley Farm.