This autumn sees the 10th anniversary of the repatriation of the Lakota Ghost Dance shirt, to the Lakota people – which was in the possession of Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow.

It is possible to take almost anything from people, once you have removed the symbols of their culture, because symbolic culture is an important part of a type of value system that creates taboos and boundaries that help to maintain and protect a common good. The Lakota know this well – together with the symbolic value of objects – not as museum pieces – but as part of their daily rituals. The value of our culture, if there is any, is in how it intertwines in our daily lives – it is not, as it has become for many – a day out at the art gallery to see the “Doctor Who” exhibition.

The 10th anniversary of the repatriation of the Lakota Ghost Dance shirt, to its rightful owners, should remind us that it is almost the 3nd anniversary of the robbing of the Glasgow people’s Common Good by the cities administrators.

The Lakota, travel across oceans to reclaim their cultural heritage – Glaswegian’s, apart from a dedicated few, have hardly started to cross a symbolic road, to reclaim “their” common heritage.

American Indians see at first hand how the destruction of there culture and value system goes hand in hand with the destruction, colonisation and appropriation of their land and livelihood. We need to learn from the Lakota, and demand the repatriation of Glasgow’s common good to the city – and for it to be used for the benefit of local people.

Common Good
A beginners guide

The New Bohemia
How business took over the cities culture