These laws are not self-executing. They require institutions to inventory their holdings, consult with tribes and descendants, and navigate complex questions about what materials qualify for return and to whom. The process is slow, often contested, and incomplete. As of 2024, large backlogs of unrepatriated materials remain at institutions across the country, and the pace of implementation has been a continuing source of frustration for Indigenous communities.
The Smithsonian’s return of Sitting Bull’s hair and leggings to LaPointe and his sisters in 2007 was, in the context of this larger history, a relatively successful outcome — one made possible by Billeck’s careful research, the existence of repatriation law, and the family’s own documentation of their lineage. But it took 117 years for the items to come home.
—
## LaPointe’s Position in a Contested Landscape
Ernie LaPointe’s status as Sitting Bull’s closest living lineal descendant, as confirmed by the Smithsonian’s repatriation process, does not place him in an uncontested position relative to all the questions surrounding his great-grandfather’s legacy.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation encompasses the area where Sitting Bull lived and died, has its own relationship with Sitting Bull’s memory. Sitting Bull died on Standing Rock land. He is associated with Standing Rock history and identity. The tribe operates tourism, cultural programs, and educational materials connected to Sitting Bull’s legacy. LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, who was Standing Rock’s tourism director at the time of the 2007 repatriation dispute, was quoted as noting that LaPointe was not enrolled at Standing Rock and questioning what authority he held on reservation lands.