Lock of Sitting Bull's hair returned

A US museum has decided to return a lock of hair and leggings worn by legendary American Indian chief Sitting Bull after learning that they were stolen by an army doctor at the time of his death more than 100 years ago.

"As part of doing research on our collection as part of the repatriation law, we realised how these objects had been acquired and they hadn't been acquired properly,'' said Bill Billeck, director of the National Museum of Natural History's Repatriation Office.

"That's the reason why it has triggered us to do this work and to look for family members,'' he said.

Sitting Bull was a Lakota chief best known for defeating General George Custer in the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana.

He was killed on December 15, 1890, two weeks before the Battle of Wounded Knee, the last major battle between US forces and American Indians.

The lock of hair was braided and narrow, about 40cm long, and the wool leggings were a traditional type worn by Indians of the period, Mr Billeck said.

After Sitting Bull's death, his body was taken to a military fort where an army doctor, Horace Deeble, took the hair and leggings and six years later sent them to the museum for display.

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