Chief Illiniwek background in Trib

A story in Sunday's Chicago Tribune by Jodi S. Cohen, higher education reporter, (with an assist from staff reporter Michelle S. Keller) gives some useful background on how the University of Illinois first obtained "Chief Illiniwek's" costume from Frank Fools Crow, a Lakota elder, during the 1980s.

The money graf is well down in the story, subordinated to a controversy that arose later (and thereby presented an irresistable fresh angle) over who has the eagle feathers originally belonging to the headdress. Well, it's more than one graf (journalese for paragraph) long. It's two grafs:

On Friday, the tribe got a boost from the former university band director who arranged for the school's purchase of the ceremonial dress in 1982.

"They should have it back because it is part of their cultural history and belonged to a legendary Native American," said Gary Smith, director of the Marching Illini from 1976 to 1998. "I feel that they are entitled to have it back, but they should not have offered it to us in the beginning."

Here's the story of how the U of I got the costume:

Smith said he traveled to the tribe's South Dakota reservation to seek help in finding a Native American artist to make a new outfit for Chief Illiniwek, whose earlier outfits were based on the Oglala Sioux style.

Chief Anthony Whirlwind Horse suggested that Smith buy an outfit belonging to 93-year-old Frank Fools Crow, an elder who had once traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show.

Whirlwind Horse "requested that rather than have an outfit made, we purchase one from Frank Fools Crow, who was destitute at the time and needed the money," Smith said.

Smith paid $3,500 for moccasins, a tunic, breastplate, leggings, peace pipe pouch and war bonnet with eagle feathers, according to a May 25, 1982, voucher and other documents.

In fall 1982, local businessmen flew Fools Crow, Whirlwind Horse and a representative from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the U. of I. on their private plane. The regalia was presented during a halftime ceremony that included the smoking of a peace pipe, Smith said.

The Trib also confirms that Fools Crow's family wants the regalia returned:

Fools Crow's grandson, Mel Lone Hill, confirmed in a telephone interview Friday that he has the feathered headdress. He said the executive committee shouldn't have demanded that the feathers be returned. Still, he said, he wants the rest of the regalia back.

"I have another one, but it would be nice to have that old one back. It is rightfully mine," said Lone Hill, 58. "If they want to sell it back, I'll buy it back."

This story, by the way, correctly identifies Fools Crow as an elder. Earlier wire stories said he was a "Chief," but to my knowledge he never held that post, which is an elective position in federally recognized tribes. His reputation was more as a spiritual leader. He died in 1989.