Pittsburgh museum plans to return Tlingit Raven Hat to Tlingit & Haida as soon as Nov. 23

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh plans to return a Raven Hat, Yéil S'áaxw, to the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes as soon as Nov. 23, according to a federal notice published Oct. 22.

The museum concluded that the hat is an object of cultural patrimony, meaning it belongs to the people as a whole, such as a clan, rather than to any one person, and is central to their history and culture.

The hat has been on display since 1998 in the museum's Hall of American Indians, which covers Tlingit, Hopi, Lakota and Iroquois cultures. The Fred Harvey Company donated it to the museum. The notice doesn't say when, how the company got the hat or which clan or community it came from.

Other tribes or descendants who believe they have a claim can contact the museum before Nov. 23.

It is one of at least six federal repatriation notices this year that name Tlingit & Haida. A Connecticut museum gave notice in October that it plans to return a Brown Bear Chilkat Robe after Nov. 9. Tlingit & Haida says its cultural resources program has brought home more than 185 objects under two federal repatriation laws.