Statue of Star Native American Ballerina Is Stolen and Sold for Scrap

On the finish of a row of statues in Tulsa, Okla., Marjorie Tallchief, a celebrated Native American ballerina, had stood ensconced in bronze, en pointe in a tutu, since 2007.

However on Friday, her statue, on the grounds of the Tulsa Historic Society & Museum, was lower down from its base, hacked aside and bought for money, stated Michelle Place, the chief director of the museum.

“It’s only a intestine punch,” Ms. Place stated.

On Monday, Ms. Place stated, workers at a neighborhood recycling middle discovered items of Ms. Tallchief’s statue, together with elements of the torso, tutu and legs. They referred to as the police.

The Tulsa Police Division stated in a press release that it was investigating the theft however didn’t instantly reply to emails or telephone calls on Monday.

Ms. Place stated that when 5 sculptures, together with Ms. Tallchief’s, have been put in in 2007, they have been valued at $120,000 in complete. Somebody bought elements of Ms. Tallchief’s statue at a recycling middle for $266, which paid for the bronze items by the pound.

However the museum employees believes that two folks may need stolen the statue and brought the elements to 2 completely different recycling facilities, Ms. Place stated. The pinnacle and the arms from the sculpture haven’t been discovered.

“I’m simply guessing that they had no thought of the importance of those bronze statues,” she stated.

Ms. Tallchief was a lithe and versatile dancer and a world star with stints in main French and American firms.

The French critic Irène Lidova described Ms. Tallchief in 1950 as a superb and dynamic performer. “Via her quasi-acrobatic virtuosity,” Ms. Lidova wrote, “she embodies the proper dancer for our time.”

Ms. Tallchief grew up on the Osage Nation reservation in an Oklahoma oil household and died in November 2021 on the age of 95.

She and her older sister, Maria Tallchief, have been a part of a bunch often called the 5 Moons, Native American ballerinas from Oklahoma who ascended the heights of ballet within the twentieth century when many well-known ballerinas have been white.

They and the opposite three — Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower and Moscelyne Larkin — are memorialized within the row of statues exterior the Tulsa Historic Society & Museum.

Ms. Place stated that it was not clear why Ms. Tallchief’s statue was singled out, however that it may need been as a result of it was on the finish of the row and close to a tree that might conceal it from view.

Alexander Skibine, considered one of Ms. Tallchief’s two sons, stated that he was in disbelief when he heard that his mom’s statue had been stolen.

“Why would anyone do this?” he stated on Monday night time.

The Tulsa Police Division had not named any suspects as of Monday night time, however Ms. Place, who has spoken with the police, stated that the division was pursuing “actually good leads.”

The museum is planning to rebuild Ms. Tallchief’s statue. Ms. Place stated that Gary Henson, who made the sculpture, advised her he would deliver the statue “again to life.”

The museum is making an attempt to lift $10,000 to cowl the statue’s insurance coverage deductible and $5,000 to put in safety cameras close to the 5 Moons, Ms. Place stated.

In a press release on Monday night time, G.T. Bynum, Tulsa’s mayor, stated that the statues are “some extent of satisfaction” that remember the town’s Native American heritage.

“That somebody would steal one and destroy it to promote for scrap steel,” he wrote, “is a shame.”