I recently found a box full of Native American items in the far reaches of a
closet here at our nature center. The items are of Plains origin and mostly
the kinds of things that a tourist could have aquired in the 1940's or 50's.
However several of the items do date back to the turn of the century or even
earlier.

Here's the problem: there isn't any donation documentation. The items have
been here for years(they've been stuffed in a cardboard box for at least 5).
Some of the long term employees do remember the man who brought the items
in, now deceased. One of the man's sons did come into the nature center afew
years after the father died, asked for and took home a large bear mount that
the father donated long before.

I would like to find this stuff a new home. They all have beaded leather,
the leather is deteriorating, we don't have anyplace to properly store them.
I don't ever see a time when they'll be put on display again(our emphasis is
East Tennessee). The older items especially do belong in a museum just not
ours. How do I go about documenting the process? Do I track down the heir of
the donor? Can I transfer ownership to another museum? And is there anything
I can do to the leather in the meantime to correct the dry rot? Right now I
have most of hte items in a acidfree box(thank you UT) and the shirt laying
flat by the heating ducts(the only place I can keep it flat, dry and other
people from setting things on it).

Thanks for any suggestions.
Contact me either on or off line

Gale
Gale Motter                          E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Creative Exhibits Designer
Bays Mountain Park
853 Bays Mountain Park Road
Kingsport, Tenn. 37660