Congressman Urges Return of Geronimo's Headdress

Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts Jr. says that if the government seizes or forfeits a headdress worn by Geronimo, then it<br>should be returned to its original home in southwest Oklahoma for public display.<br>Watts

Tuesday, November 9th 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts Jr. says that if the government seizes or forfeits a headdress worn by Geronimo, then it
should be returned to its original home in southwest Oklahoma for public display.
Watts made the request in a letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman in Philadelphia. Federal authorities in Pennsylvania confiscated the eagle feather headdress after a man put it up for sale on the Internet for $1.2 million, officials said. Because the headdress is made from eagle feathers, it is a crime to sell it under the Migratory Bird Protection Act and the Bald and
Gold Eagle Protection Act. Thomas Marciano, 42, of Marietta, Georgia, and Leighton Deming, 56, of Suwanee, Georgia, were arrested after attempting to finalize the sale. Watts said Geronimo and the Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache tribes have a long history in southwest Oklahoma. Geronimo lived at Ft. Sill as a prisoner of war until his death in 1909. The headdress was worn by the Indian chief in 1907 during the last powwow held in Indian territory that later became Oklahoma. Watts says "we are very proud of our native American and Ft. Sill history, and would be honored to add this historical relic to the otherwise impressive exhibition of Geronimo and Apache artifacts currently on display in southwest Oklahoma."