Museum worker tried wearing Native American artifacts and stole them, feds say

An employee at the Museum of the Plains Indian in Montana pleaded guilty to stealing museum artifacts, the Department of Justice said in an Oct. 3 release.

Preston Jay Spotted Eagle, 31, worked as an aide at the museum in Browning, about 175 miles north of Helena, according to the release.

Last summer, the museum’s curator noticed that a historic bear claw necklace had disappeared from the displays, and an investigation determined Spotted Eagle stole it, the release said.

Further investigation revealed he had also taken other artifacts, including a pair of moccasins and about two dozen eagle feathers from a headdress, the release said. After removing some artifacts, some of which were “very old and delicate,” he photographed them and tried them on, the release said.

On surveillance footage, Spotted Eagle can be seen rummaging through drawers looking at moccasins, the release said. On one occasion he removed a pair, held it near the bottom of his own shoe for size comparison, and later stole the moccasins, according to charging documents.

An attorney for Spotted Eagle could not be reached for comment by McClatchy News on Oct. 4.

Damage done to the artifacts was estimated to cost several thousand dollars, but the government said it was “impossible to put a monetary amount on the items, which are unique and culturally significant to the Blackfeet Tribe.”

The Museum of the Plains Indian declined to comment when contacted by McClatchy News. The museum’s website says it was founded in 1941, is open to the public, and “displays richly varied arts of Northern Plains Tribal peoples.”

Spotted Eagle pleaded guilty to theft of government property and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the release.