Chief Kadashan's cane from 19th century coming home to Wrangell

The Oakland Museum of California has housed the Kadashan cane for the past 65 years. Now, with help from the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, the five-foot cedar cane is due to arrive in Wrangell in the coming days.

Lu Knapp, a direct descendant of Chief John Kadashan, was thrilled when she learned of the cane's imminent return.

"It just gives me a really good feeling hearing that it's coming back," Knapp said. "It was my great-grandfather's!"

While any repatriation is a success for Indigenous communities, the Kadashan cane is returning at an especially significant time.

Last month, WCA brought in master carvers to replicate two of Wrangell's totem poles, one of which uses the Kadashan cane's likeness as the basis for its design. The cane is adorned with carved animal and human figures. The carvers are hoping that seeing the cane in person will help them have a greater understanding of what they are carving, albeit on a much larger scale of a 37-foot pole.

The official repatriation ceremony of the cane occurred this past spring, with Teehítaan clan leader Mike Aak'wtaatseen Hoyt taking part at the event in Oakland. Hoyt is one of five apprentices working to carve new totem poles to replace older Shakes Island totems that were taken down several years ago.

The cane's origins date back to the early 19th century, when Chief Kadashan's Haida relatives gifted the chief the staff to mark the occasion of Tlingit and Haida marriages.

"History notes the cane is a particularly important item of chiefly regalia, possessing sacred qualities and was only used on special occasions to command, unify and represent clan members," according to information from the central council. "Aankháawu Woodzakaa (Richman's Cane) was known as a 'speaker's staff.'"

According to the council, the last clan leader to have the staff was John Kadashan - Knapp's great-grandfather - becoming the namesake of the staff. Private collectors took possession of the cane around the turn of the century.

It was at the Oakland Museum of California for decades until, through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, the central council was able to submit a claim for return of the staff.

Sometimes claims can involve disputed objects or insufficient evidence, but this was not an issue for the Kadashan cane, Hoyt said. According to Hoyt, the museum worked well with the tribe and the process was rather seamless.

For Hoyt, the staff's repatriation comes at a time where the mindset surrounding museums and the objects they hold is evolving.

"One-hundred years ago, there was this Indiana Jones mindset, that everything belongs in a museum. But now, the thinking is more trying to make everything as accessible as possible."

While the cane will be displayed at the Nolan Center, it will be made accessible for WCA to help understand the current totem project and also for tribal celebrations and events.

Because the staff is such a treasured item, the central council has been keeping it in Juneau since the turnover last spring in Oakland. Wrangell's totem carvers are hoping it arrives in town as soon as possible.

WCA is planning a ceremony celebrating its return early next month.