Sam Penney sits in a chair, hands in his lap, looking at Sueann Ramella, who sits out of view on the left side of the photograph.

Captive Returns Home: The Story Of Wetxuuwíitin – With Chairman Sam Penney

By Ashley Beard January 20, 2023

Imagine a stranger took your family’s heirlooms and then offered you an opportunity to purchase them back before selling them at auction. In 1993, the Nez Perce tribe raised $608,100 within six months to purchase back a collection of items that were rightfully theirs. The Spalding-Allen collection, later renamed Wetxuuwíitin, meaning “captive returns home”, contains valuable artifacts crafted by the ancestors of the Nimiipuu people. In this episode of Traverse Talks with Sueann Ramella, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, Sam Penney explains that the spiritual value of the Wetxuuwíitin collection extends far beyond their monetary value. Listen to learn more about opportunities to learn Nimipuutímt (the language of the Nez Perce) and discover more about Nez Perce culture.