A statue of a Native American ballerina that was stolen in Tulsa will be restored

By The Associated Press

Published May 10, 2022 at 11:53 AM CDT

The base where the Marjorie Tallchief sculpture once stood is seen outside the Tulsa Historical Society on May 2 in Tulsa, Okla.

TULSA, Okla. — Enough pieces of a bronze statue of a famous Native American ballerina that was stolen in Tulsa have been recovered to restore it, historical officials said.

The additional missing pieces of the statue of Marjorie Tallchief that were found include the head, said Tulsa Historical Society and Museum Director Michelle Place, according to the Tulsa World.

Still missing are the lower portion of each leg, both feet and one arm, but Gary Henson, one of the original sculptors, said he will be able to restore it.

"You won't be able to tell that it was ever cut up when I'm done," Henson said. "Nothing is ever really lost," he told the newspaper.

Sculptor Gary Henson, who made the Marjorie Tallchief statue that was stolen from the Tulsa Historical Society and cut up for scrap metal, on Monday shows the parts which he will reassemble at the Boys and Girls Club in Chelsea, Okla.

The statue is believed to have been stolen April 28 and cut into pieces that have been found at different recycling centers in the Tulsa area, Place said, but no arrests have been made.

Tallchief and her sister, Maria Tallchief, were among five renowned Native American ballerinas from Oklahoma known as Five Moons and a bronze statue of each was unveiled outside the Tulsa museum in 2007.

Maria Tallchief is among five women who will be individually featured on U.S. quarters next year as part of a program that depicts notable women on the coins, the U.S. Mint announced in March.

Marjorie Tallchief was the last survivor of the five and died in November.