The Hair, the Leggings, and What They Carried

The repatriation of Sitting Bull’s hair and leggings in 2007 was described by Smithsonian officials as a recognition of the significance of these objects and of the improperly acquired nature of the original taking.

The leggings are reported to have carried particular significance — they were the leggings Sitting Bull was wearing, or had recently worn, when he was killed, and they carried the specific weight of association with the final moments of his life.

Objects of this kind — closely associated with a significant person at a moment of historical importance, held in institutional custody for more than a century, and returned after an investigation that found the taking to have been improper — carry a complicated kind of meaning.