A shirt worn by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe fetches $877,500 at auction

Anything associated with the renowned Native American leader of the Nez Perce tribe, Hin-Mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, popularly known as Chief Joseph, is considered to be highly desirable and sought-after by the worldwide collectors. Now, one of the highly important Native American artifacts, a poncho-style war shirt made of two soft skins featuring bead work with bright colors and bold geometric designs, which once belonged to Chief Joseph, fetched $877,500 at the annual Coeur d’Alene Art Auction held in Reno, a price which just topped its pre-sale estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million. This pretty special shirt associated with Chief Joseph, who became renowned as peacemaker and humanitarian for his principled resistance to the removal of his Wallowa band and to move to a reservation in Idaho, was also earlier sold for $482,500 in Sotheby’s American Indian Art sale on May 16.