Lance, your right. David Manuel's museum is very interesting. He grew up in SW Washington and has quite a few Nez Perce artifacts that he found while growing up. He is the artist that crafted the Oregon Trail Centennial statue of the pioneer family a few years back. It consisted of a man, his wife and son looking out at the road in front of them. It caused a bit of an uproar when it was unveiled. The problems? The man was holding a rifle, the adults were wearing wedding rings, the child was a boy, and of course they were white. Not wanting to offend anyone, the unveiling of the statue was put on hold. I'm not sure what the final outcome was. A smaller edition was in front of the museum the last time I was there. I was very lucky to have found and bought one of his early bronzes at an estate auction several years back. Manuel takes great pains to insure that his Nez Perce inspired sculptures are authentic as to the style of clothes and items present. His works are purchased by collectors all over the world. When I was there in '95, he had many bronzes available for sale, priced between $2,000-$30,000. The town of Joseph is a bit of an artist's colony and is home to many painters and sculpters. When I was there last there weres two foundries specializing in lost-wax bronze casting. Tours of one the foundries were available. It is a very interesting process. The folks doing the casting and assembly are truly artists in their own right.
Well I hope to see you here.