Killer Whale Hat

This wooden hat belongs to the Tlingit Dakl’aweidí (Killer Whale) clan of southeast Alaska. The hat was made in 1900 in Angoon, Alaska, by Tlingit artist Yeilnawoo and belonged to Gushdeiheen a Dakl’aweidí clan leader (SI catalog number E230063). It is a clan crest hat in the form of a killer whale rising out of the ocean. The hat is both a sacred object and an object of cultural patrimony, which the National Museum of Natural History repatriated to the clan in 2005. The hat was scanned with the clan’s permission to create a digital record of the hat as insurance against loss and to allow the Smithsonian to make an exact replica for education and exhibition purposes. A digital fabrication tool (CNC mill) carved the hat from alder wood, which was painted and inlaid with shell in consultation with the clan. This project shows we can return culturally sensitive objects so they can be used in ceremony while retaining exact replicas to teach about their cultural significance—and the importance of repatriation.