Auburn Logan wearing some of her now missing traditional regalia pieces. (Courtesy/Auburn Logan)
Auburn Logan left her new Salem apartment around 11:45 a.m. on Nov. 20 to find her car was gone.
Assuming it was towed, she called the number listed outside her complex for a towing company.
“When they said that they didn’t have it, my heart stopped,” Logan said.
She then realized what was sitting in her trunk – a box of traditional regalia pieces, including earrings, moccasins, necklaces, otter furs and scarves. Some of the missing pieces she made herself, while others were handed down from the Yurok, Tolowa and Karuk Tribes – of which her grandfather was a member – when she was as young as 5 years old.
Logan, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, said she was at a loss for words.
Having recently come to Salem from Dallas, Oregon, she’d been moving her belongings into her new apartment the night before and decided to go to sleep when it got late.
Logan on Nov. 20 reported her car as missing from the 3600 block of Bell Road Northeast.
Two days later, an employee at EZ Orchards Farm Market reported it had been left in their parking lot, said Sgt. Jeremy Landers, a spokesperson for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The car was towed because deputies couldn’t immediately reach Logan.
“It wasn’t vandalized, nothing was broken, all the tires were still intact,” Logan said, but her regalia pieces were nowhere to be found.
“I don’t care about the car, I really don’t. I care about what has been a part of my history and my family’s history and my people’s history for thousands of years. That’s absolutely irreplaceable, absolutely priceless,” she said. “All I felt was hopeless and helpless, and I just felt like the earth and time just stood still.”
Auburn Logan holding and wearing some of her now missing traditional regalia pieces. (Courtesy/Auburn Logan)
Landers said Logan contacted deputies on Nov. 23 after she picked up the car to report the pieces were missing.
He said no arrests have been made and the investigation remains open.
“I have absolutely no leads whatsoever,” Logan said.
Logan, 24, said she wore them to honor her ancestors and channel what life was like for them. “When I wore regalia, I wanted to make my ancestors proud and have them know that they aren’t forgotten,” she said.
As an Indigenous woman, she said she feels like a part of her identity was stolen with the regalia pieces. “It’s taking a piece of who you are, and it’s such a big piece because we fight so hard. We have fought for our rights for … over 500 years, and we’re still doing it to this day,” she said. “I wore it because I was proud of who I am.”
Logan, who works in player services at Spirit Mountain Casino, said she enjoys supporting and empowering Indigenous people through social media.
After losing her regalia pieces, she turned to Facebook and Twitter, where her post asking the public to help find them got over 7,000 retweets and was seen by almost half a million people. “Overall, the public has been nothing but gracious and supportive and so sympathetic,” she said.
Logan said she volunteers with Black Joy Oregon, a grassroots initiative that works to provide a community hub for people of color in Salem, and other volunteers with the group have been going to pawn shops to show photos of the stolen pieces as well as checking secondhand stores and Craigslist. “It’s just a waiting game at this point,” she said.
“I’m just asking the public’s help. I’m asking everyone from every corner, from everywhere, to just keep your eye out,” she said.
The stolen pieces were otter furs about 50 inches long, beaded earrings, shell necklaces, a gold shawl with gold and white fringe on the ends, white moccasins, a dentalium shell choker necklace with white and gold beads and tanned leather thongs in the back, white and gold floral leggings with gold trim and a white zipper, and three floral scarves – one black, one white and one yellow, she said.
Landers said anyone with information about the vehicle theft or missing regalia can submit a tip online or submit an anonymous tip by texting TIPMCSO and their tip to 847411.
Auburn Logan wearing some of her now missing traditional regalia pieces. (Courtesy/Auburn Logan)
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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