Historic Raven Helmet returns to Kiks.ádi clan after a century in church custody
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) repatriates sacred artifact as part of broader reparative justice efforts
LOUISVILLE — Raven Helmet worn during the 1804 Battle of Sitka has returned to the Kiks.ádi clan in Alaska after more than 100 years, marking a significant milestone in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s commitment to addressing historical harms and advancing reparative justice.
The repatriation represents the first major development following the denomination's 2023 apology and reparations to Alaska Native communities in Juneau, underscoring the church’s evolving approach to confronting its colonial past and rectifying wrongs committed against Indigenous peoples.
The Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, director of the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms, celebrated the development. “After decades of work and a more recent assist from the Center for Repair and the Stated Clerk, our friends from the Kiks.ádi clan in Sitka, Alaska, will finally get Raven Helmet returned to them!” he wrote. “Not only is this historic for them, this is also the first major development stemming from our follow-up from the apology and reparations in Juneau, Alaska, in 2023.”
The helmet’s journey into church possession began in the early 1900s when it was transferred to the Presbyterian-run Sitka Industrial and Training School, which later became Sheldon Jackson College. The artifact has since resided in the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka. However, the circumstances surrounding the original transfer remained murky, with multiple accounts and versions documented in repatriation requests dating to 2001, 2003 and 2004. The Presbyterian Historical Society recently published a blog about the transit into and back out of the collection of that Presbyterian institution, named after Sheldon Jackson, a missionary tasked with “winning the West for Christ.” David Staniunas, records archivist for PHS, writes, “Both the Sheldon Jackson Papers – digitized completely and the records of the UPCUSA Department of Health, Education and Welfare help tell the story of a long-running, Presbyterian-supported traffic in looted cultural artifacts.”
In an August 2025 letter addressing the repatriation request, the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Unified Agency, acknowledged the church’s inability to establish legitimate ownership. “Based on the same information, the PC(USA), A Corporation is unable to definitively establish that the Presbyterian Church, or one of its predecessors, in fact, possessed or had a right of possession of Raven Helmet at any point,” Oh wrote in the letter.
The letter followed collaborative efforts between the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms and the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Sealaska Heritage Institute, and Kiks.ádi clan members and leaders.
According to reporting by Alaskan news outlet KTOO, a local Alaskan news outlet, the helmet holds profound significance for the Kiks.ádi clan. Aanyaanáxch Ray Wilson, the Kiks.ádi clan leader who lives in Juneau, told KTOO that the helmet is considered at.oow — a sacred, living clan item. “When we don’t have our items, we can’t use them,” Wilson said. “And there it is sitting right in a museum in Sitka, and we can’t use it, and it belongs to us. It’s really hard to accept.”
Wilson, 92, told KTOO that bringing sacred items back into ceremonies helps restore what has been lost. “The main thing is that it's coming back to help our people. We all need help,” he said. “These are really trying times, and they don’t seem to get any better. We need the culture to come back to make our people stronger again.”
The repatriation process involved coordination with Alaska State Museums, which holds collections in trust for Alaska residents. In a May 2024 letter, Addison Field, chief curator of Alaska State Museums, outlined the path forward, recommending “that the interested parties work with the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and/or the Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska to submit a brief letter asking to reopen the repatriation request for Raven Helmet based on 2003 documentation.”
Field’s letter noted that reclamation is governed by Alaska Statute 14.57.220 and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), adding in the letter that Alaska State Museums staff “understand the complexities of both state and federal policies surrounding NAGPRA.”
Ross-Allam, who searched the church’s archives to find records of the helmet, said he found records detailing how men brought the hat to the school. “But, of course, there were no appropriate ceremonial protocols,” Ross-Allam said.
Lduteen Jerrick Hope-Lang, a clan member who has been fighting to repatriate the helmet, told KTOO about the importance of proving ownership. “If you’re asserting you have the right to anything, there must be proof,” Hope-Lang said. “I want to see it.”
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s action parallels broader repatriation and reparations efforts by religious institutions. In early December 2025, after a three-year campaign by Indigenous leaders following a historic apology by Pope Francis for the abuses committed at Canada’s church-run residential schools, the Vatican returned Indigenous artifacts to First Nations communities in Canada. The response of the Catholic and Presbyterian denominations to concerns of Indigenous leaders reflects growing recognition among faith communities of their obligation to return cultural patrimony taken during colonial periods and the repair required specifically to communities and cultures impacted by church-run residential schools.
Yeidikook’áa Brady-Howard, Sitka Tribe of Alaska chairwoman, told KTOO that Raven Helmet’s return comes at a time when relationships between Indigenous people and organizations like churches and museums are changing for the better. “I don’t feel that we can view the repatriation without also viewing it in the larger lens of colonialism and trauma,” she said, “but also truth, reconciliation and healing.”
For the Kiks.ádi clan, the helmet’s return represents both healing and continuity. Hope-Lang told KTOO that young clan members won't know the pain of not being able to claim it and use it for ceremony. “The exciting thing is for the young people below us, who will become the caretakers, the future ancestors, that they won’t know this trauma,” he said. “This won't be passed on to them.”
The repatriation demonstrates how the PC(USA)'s commitment to reparative justice translates into tangible action, addressing not only historical acknowledgment but also concrete restoration of what was taken from Indigenous communities during missionary and educational activities in Alaska.
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