Petersburg tribe sets Sept. 4 return of Tlingit infant's remains

A 6-month-old Tlingit girl, her remains held for years in a Seattle museum, returns home to Petersburg on Sept. 4. The Petersburg Indian Association will hold a welcoming ceremony that day. The tribe announced the return at an Aug. 4 community dinner.

Stephanie Aikins, the tribe's administrative assistant, travels to Seattle on Sept. 1 with a tribal delegation to receive the remains from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. A January 2023 Federal Register notice recorded them as removed from a cave at Thomas Bay. That notice authorized repatriation after Feb. 13, 2023. Aikins has led the effort since May 2025, backed by about $24,000 in funding under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the federal law behind a nationwide wave of returns from museum collections.

"This is uncharted territory," she said.

This fall the tribe plans a larger interment ceremony for the infant and two other ancestors, both held more than 10 years.