indicated it had likely been around for many
years before it was collected in 1884.
“It’s hard to tell how old it was, but because it
had all those repairs on it, it could have been
100, 200 years old,” Hollinger said. “We have no
way of dating something from that time.”
The carver of the hat is also unknown.
Some of the paint used on the old hat contained
mercury, Hollinger said, so it was likely made
post-contact — after non-indigenous people
and Alaska Natives met. However, he said it’s
possible it existed in the 1700s, and the telltale
paint came during repairs.
The scan also showed areas where sea lion
whiskers were likely present, so the new hat
has whiskers on one side. The newer hat also
includes shell inlay that was not present in the
older hat.
“The shell inlay here was not on the original
hat, but the original hat had an incised circle
as if they intended to put inlays in there. They
learned from the original hat and restored it to
where they thought they would have liked to
have it.”
Wilson said the two hats are also
spiritually distinct.
At.oowu, sacred clan objects, are considered to
have spiritual properties, so a repatriated item
is thought to come with the spirits of ancestors
attached. Wilson said the old hat’s spirits will be
retained rather than transferred to the new hat.
“It will have its own spirits, and the old hat will
still be as powerful,” Wilson said. “We did ask the
old hat if they would treat the new hat like it was
his child and he could pass on any information
he would want it to have.”
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