October 18, 2017 - 9:08 AM
SITKA, Alaska - Seven historic Tlingit pieces that were in East Coast museums for decades have been returned to Southeast Alaska.
The pieces were on display Saturday as part of a conference in Sitka, The Daily Sitka Sentinel reported .
Cultural resource specialist for the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Harold Jacobs, said the three helmets, two hats, headdress and beaded shirt date from as far back as the 1600s to about 1890.
The Raven Barbecuing Hat was made about 1800 in Dry Bay by the carver Kux'laa of the Chookaneidi Clan. It was made for the L'ooknax.adi, Jacobs said. It was acquired from the Sealion House collection by Louis Shotridge in 1918 and had been at the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
The six other pieces were at the National Museum of American Indians in Washington, D.C., Jacobs said.
The relics were brought back to Alaska through the efforts of the council. They will be stored through the National Park Service, with access being granted to the Tlingit clans.
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Information from: Daily Sitka (Alaska) Sentinel, http://www.sitkasentinel.com/
News from © The Associated Press, 2017