A Native American lawyer in Oklahoma wants Harvard University to return a tomahawk once owned by his pioneering ancestor, Chief Standing BearCAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A Native American lawyer wants Harvard University to return a tomahawk once owned by his pioneering ancestor, Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca Tribe. Brett Chapman, of Oklahoma, told GBH last week that he's reached out to the Cambridge, Massachusetts university's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to return the heirloom. Standing Bear's lawyer wrongfully gave away the artifact and that others, including the Ponca tribe of Nebraska, are now also seeking its return, he said. Earlier this year, a Native American group complained that the Harvard museum has not always consulted with tribes about cultural items that could be returned to them, in violation of federal law.

Source: ABC News May 10, 2021 17:36 UTC