Tribe Has 10 Days To Raise $105,000

The Nez Perce Indian Tribe has 10 days to raise the final $105,000 to buy a 150-year-old collection of tribal artifacts.

“Right now we’re looking for that grand champion to come through in the final hours,” said Tom Hudson, fund-raiser for the tribe’s “Heritage Quest Alliance.”

He said he’s optimistic the tribe can raise the money by the deadline.

“We do have some important irons in the fire, but none that have come through yet,” he said.

The tribe has until June 1 to come up with $608,100 to buy 20 Nez Perce artifacts from the Ohio Historical Society. Contributors thus far include Mrs. Walt Disney, the rock group Pearl Jam and thousands of students.

Officials from the tribe and the National Park Service are scheduled to travel May 30 to Ohio to pay for the collection and take possession of an old Nez Perce cradleboard. The rest of the collection is on display at a National Park Service interpretive center at Spalding, Idaho.

“We understand that they’re prepared to close the deal,” said historical society spokeswoman Ann Frazier. “They’ve indicated to us that they will be here on the 30th with a check in the full amount.”

The collection includes dresses, men’s shirts, moccasins and a woman’s saddle. In the 1840s, a Presbyterian minister named Rev. Henry Spalding traded $57.90 in trade goods to the Indians in exchange for the items. Spalding sent the collection to an Ohio doctor in exchange for mission supplies.

, DataTimes