For over 90 years, the Potts family cradle board sat behind museum glass, displayed and labeled without the family’s consent. This year, the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) Museum officially returned ownership of the stolen board back to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, beginning to right this historical wrong.
4.14.25 Voncile Mitchell sits next to the Potts family’s cradle board
On April 14, three generations of the Potts family – Voncile, Joanna, and Tara Mitchell – gathered to view their recently repatriated cradle board. The moment marked the culmination of decades of persistent advocacy.
Tara Mitchell, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO), led the repatriation efforts. As THPO, Mitchell works to protect and preserve the Nation’s cultural heritage. The cradle board’s return represents both a significant milestone for the Nation and personal triumph for her family.
In the 1930s, a non-native family asked to borrow the Potts family’s cradle board for what they described as an educational presentation. Without the Potts family’s knowledge or consent, they re-beaded and re-painted it, effectively erasing its original designs. Having obscured provenance, they sold it to the Kansas State Historical Society Museum, severing the Potts connection to a generational item.
Years later, Tara Mitchell’s grandfather, Maynard Potts, made a chance visit to the KSHS Museum. He was stunned to discover his family’s cradle board on public display and immediately requested its return. “My Misho Maynard’s early repatriation requests were met with refusal and disrespect from the previous administration,” Mitchell explained.
In their original rejection, the museum told Maynard his testimony wasn’t substantial enough proof. If he wanted to contest their possession of the cradle board, he would need to prove his patrimony.
By this point, the cradle board had been in the custody of KSHS for several decades. Nikki Klarmann, the current state archaeologist, acknowledged, “At that time, the museum was claiming that the item wasn’t a funerary object, a sacred object, or an object of patrimony. So, they denied a NAGPRA claim.”
As years passed, museum leadership and archaeological philosophy began shifting. When Nikki Klarmann was promoted to state archeologist in 2022, she initiated the first comprehensive summary of cultural items under the KSHS Museum’s care. During this reidentification process, Tara Mitchell’s outreach prompted her to reexamine the Potts’s cradle board.
“After my uncle Sam Potts told me the story of how it ended up at KSHS, I reached out to Nikki. She was able to look into the case again.”
Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), institutions receiving federal funding must facilitate the return of Native American cultural items in their collections. “Reviewing the communications, it was clear that the NAGPRA compliance needed to be reassessed,” Klarmann explained.
She elaborated, “What Maynard was saying when he came was that it was stolen from them. That they loaned it to the family, they sold it, and when they went to get it back it was already gone… We clearly purchased a stolen item.”
Klarmann submitted a claim to KSHS’s deaccession board in May of 2024. The board consisted of independent professionals who evaluate collections considered for removal from the museum’s collection. Klarmann was hopeful that this external review would bring justice to the family. “It’s a unique case,” Klarmann explained. “Because we do have that oral history confirming it was stolen, Maynard Potts’s word should have been considered expert opinion.”
On February 4, 2025, the deaccession board officially voted to return the cradle board. Klarmann explained, “This was about doing the right thing, even if it took far too long. We’re happy to partner with Tara and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to make this happen.”
4.14.25 Tara, Voncile, and Joanna Mitchell sit next to their repatriated cradleboard
When ownership was officially transferred, Maynard Potts’s daughters, Voncile Mitchell and Doris Potts-Zyganiuk, joined Tara Mitchell for a private viewing of the cradle board. As direct descendants of Maynard, the sisters had the final say on the item’s future.
“The cradle board has aged significantly,” noted Mitchell. The once-functional family heirloom, now with visibly rusted nails, spent decades as a display. “In its current condition, it couldn’t safely hold new babies.”
After family discussion, the Potts lineage decided to transfer the care of the cradle board to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
This repatriation, while significant, represents just one success in a broader ongoing effort. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation currently awaits the return of 56 additional cultural items from the University of Kansas, all pending final processing through the federal register.
Still, preservation challenges remain a significant concern for the Nation.
“Since we don’t have a facility to properly care for the cradle board, we have asked KSHS to maintain temporary custody of the cradle board and we will coordinate appropriate storage until we have a proper facility of our own,” Mitchell explained.
4.14.25 Joanna Mitchell photographs Tara Mitchell holding their returned cradle board next to Voncile Mitchell
The THPO is exploring options for establishing a dedicated tribal facility to house and display historical items of significance. “My vision for the future is to open a Tribal Museum or Cultural Center so we can bring our items home and display them for our people to see. These items connect us to our ancestors and should be cared for by our people.” On the heels of her success, Tara Mitchell has no plans to slow down. “I’m going back to school this fall to earn my master’s degree in museum studies to learn how to care for our items not only in our possession but for items that are in institutions waiting to be repatriated.”