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Repatriations | Organized Village of Grayling
In 2002, the Penn Museum repatriated nineteen wooden masks to the Central Alaskan village of Grayling, through its Tribal Corporation, Denakkanaaga, Inc.
The masks were acquired during a Museum collecting expedition in 1935. They were recovered from a "refuse heap" behind a collapsed ceremonial house at Holikachaket, an ancestral village of Grayling. According to the collector, the masks were once used in the Mask Dance or the Feast of the Mask. The purpose of this ceremony was to insure a continued supply of fish and game by thanking the spirits of the animals.
After careful analysis, the University of Pennsylvania found that the masks are objects of central importance to the Native Village of Grayling and could not have been alienated by any one individual. Penn Museum staff worked closely with representatives of the Organized Village of Grayling who had received a NPS NAGPRA Repatriation Grant. The masks were repatriated on October 26, 2002.
Notice of Inventory Completion |
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