A Tlingit infant, held for years in a Seattle museum, is coming home to Petersburg

A Tlingit baby girl whose remains were held for years in a Seattle museum is coming home to Petersburg. The Petersburg Indian Association will welcome her back with a ceremony on Sept. 4, after a tribal delegation travels to Seattle to receive her remains from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.

The infant, about six months old, was taken from a cave at Thomas Bay, and federal records cleared the way for her return more than two years ago. Stephanie Aikins, who works for the tribe, has led the effort to bring her home since last year — work she called "uncharted territory."

The homecoming is part of a larger act of return. This fall, the tribe plans an interment ceremony for the infant and two other ancestors, both held for more than a decade. Her return is one small piece of a nationwide movement, made possible by a federal law, that has brought Native ancestors home from museum collections across the country.