| Summary: | The Native Peoples of the United States have continuously been aware of important items held in museum collections integral to their lifeways as distinct cultures, and until the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) passed in 1990, there was no law in place to regain ownership of such important items. The focus of this thesis is a burial chest stored at the Alaska State Museum held in custody by the United States National Forest Service. There is speculation that the remains held within the chest are of Tsaagweidi ancestry, a clan or family from the Kake, AK area. In accordance with NAGPRA regulations, the Forest Service has contacted the Organized Village of Kake (OVK), the Tribal entity in Kake, regarding possible repatriation of the chest. The purpose of this thesis is to not only find a culturally appropriate approach that Native tribes like Kake can work with, but to specifically describe how ownership is established through family history, constructed through historical research and interviews with local people from Kake familiar with the Killerwhale family. This requires the understanding that there is no single Native perspective and that each tribe will define their own unique approach to repatriation. Questions of reburial practices have surfaced, for reburial by means of repatriation haven't been practiced by OVK as of yet. Since OVK hasn't formally been through a repatriation request, it is hoped that this thesis also will help OVK to establish a clan, tribal, cultural, or territorial affiliation for the burial chest in accordance with NAGPRA regulations. Arts, Faculty of Anthropology, Department of Graduate
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