I'm seeing some convos about Native art in museums and it's something I have a lot of feelings about. Last spring I discovered that a bag made by one of my ancestors is in the possession of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Somewhat unusually, they actually have records of how it got there. You see, my ancestor in this case was captured and then enslaved to Charles Michel de Langlade, a famous French/Odawa man who lived in Wisconsin. At some point, she quilled a bag that he used to carry paperwork.

In 1888, his great-grandson donated the bag to the Wisconsin Historical Society, and informed them that it was made by "one of de Langlade's Pawnee slaves" (she was actually Dakota, panis/pawnee being a catchall term for Native slaves).

The first time I shared this story, I was flooded with messages from non-Native friends saying I should try to claim the bag, to make them return it to my family. Which is sweet, but never going to happen. As far as the museum is concerned, the bag BELONGED to the de Langlades.

Never mind that it was my grandmother who made that bag at the behest of her slavemaster. What does it mean for that bag to have been passed down in the de Langlade family, that I and her other descendants never got the chance to touch it? That we don't even know her name?

This may not be a "typical" story of stolen Native artwork, but it's something that I think about constantly. At the very least, I'd like to see the description of the bag not focus entirely on Charles de Langlade. To see my grandmother's story recognized. Because she matters.

@WisHistory got a name for who I can talk to about changing the narrative about this bag? As a PhD candidate in American Studies I have done a lot of research on Native&Black enslavement in WI and I have a personal connection. I think you could tell a really important story here.