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Repatriations | White Mountain Apache Tribe

In 2000, the White Mountain Apache Tribe submitted a repatriation claim to the Museum for one Gaan (Mountain Spirit) headdress as a “sacred object” and an “object of cultural patrimony.”

The headdress was purchased in 1931 by the Denver Art Museum from Mr. O.L.N. Foster. No documentation is available surrounding its acquisition. In 1959, the Penn Museum received it in an exchange with the Denver Art Museum.

According to the tribe’s NAGPRA representative, the headdress is “a unique sacred object hand crafted to support the transformation of an individual Apache (Ndee) girl into womanhood” and “once such a headdress has been used by the Gaan spirits it is put away-retired forever as a means for the perpetuation of the healing and harmonizing derived from the ceremony.” Further, it was explained that “the headdress should never have been removed from its resting place, and its repatriation will contribute to the reestablishment of harmony, health, and good will.”

The University of Pennsylvania determined that the headdress is an object of central importance to the White Mountain Apache Tribe and that it qualified as an “object of cultural patrimony.” The headdress was repatriated to the tribe on January 10, 2002.

Notice of Inventory Completion