Kéet Koowaal
Kéet Koowaal (translated as "Killerwhale With a Hole in its Fin", also called "Killer Whale Fin Totem Crest") is a house finial made in the mid-19th century by the Kayáashkéedítaan clan of the Shx'at Khwaan, also called the "Wrangell People," members of the Tlingit tribe in the area around Wrangell, Alaska. It was formerly part of the Native American collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art
The finial was made of cedar in the shape of a whale's fin. It was painted in red and black and adorned with locks of human hair at the edge. Each lock memorialized the release of an enslaved person. The fin was displayed at certain times on the peak of the roof of the clan house.
The fin was removed, and sold into private hands in the 1970s, without permission of the tribe. An English collector took possession of it and later sold it to Patricia Withof of Paris, France. From there it came into the possession of Alan Steele Tribal Fine Art in New York City. His gallery sold it H. Malcolm Grimmer, a founder of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers of America with a gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico in April 2000. Grimmer, in turn, sold it in May to the Axis Gallery, which specializes in African objects. The Birmingham Museum of Art acquired it from Axis later that same year. It was displayed along with a staff, dancer's wand and bentwood box in the Native American galleries on the second floor.
In 2007 representatives of the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska contacted the museum to discuss objects of cultural patrimony in its collection that may be required to be repatriated under the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Act of 1989 and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990. A visit was made by tribal representatives in 2017, and additional provenance research by senior curator Emily Hanna confirmed that some of the objects should be returned. The Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance lifting any legal restrictions on the museum's deaccession of such objects in 2021. The Kéet Koowaal was returned to the tribe that summer. A ceremony was held in the fall to celebrate the return of the tribe's belongings.
References
- "Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL" (April 29, 2019) National Park Service, Document No. 2019-08593 (84 FR 18078)
- Pierre, Janae (July 8, 2021) "Birmingham Museum Of Art To Return Artwork To Native American Tribes" WBHM.org
- Lockett, Michael S. (July 14, 2021) "Alaska Native works coming home after decades down South" Juneau Empire
External links
- Killer Whale Fin Totem Crest, Tlingit people at artsbma.org