Stolen artifacts returned to tribes

SPOKANE, Wash., Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Members of Indian tribes in five U.S. states say they are pleased to get back more than 1,400 artifacts stolen from tribal sites.

The (Spokesman, Wash.) Spokesman-Review said Friday the stolen artifacts were returned to tribal officials Thursday during a ceremony in Spokane, Wash., following the recovery of the items by federal authorities during a lengthy investigation.

The artifacts were taken from the collection of Kenneth L. Milette of Newport, Wash., who was pleaded guilty in February to four counts of illegally possessing and selling Native American artifacts and human remains.

Milette was ordered to forfeit ownership of the stolen artifacts, which include jewelry and arrowheads. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $7,000 in restitution.

"I hope it sends a strong message," Larry Greene of Idaho's Nez Perce Tribe said of the criminal case. "I'm glad there is someone taking an initiative."

"It saddens me to think my ancestors may have been lying in somebody's basement," Jim SiJohn, a Spokane Tribe of Indians elder, offered regarding the recovered artifacts. "If we don't honor our ancestors, we lose our culture and our history."