by Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 22/97) - Decorated with an ochre band and sewn from the skins of 30 caribou, a century-old Dogrib teepee has come home.

Since 1894, the teepee, which belonged to Dogrib trading chief K'aawidaa, has been part the University of Iowa's Natural History Museum, in Iowa City. In that year, university of Iowa graduate student Frank Russell bought the teepee from K'aawidaa ("Bear Lake Chief").

The teepee would have travelled with K'aawidaa, whose route likely took him between Fort Rae and Fort Norman, according to Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre subarctic archaeologist Tom Andrews.

"He was a big trader in muskox hides -- his land use area would have been massive."

Dogrib elders at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre Wednesday for a ceremony welcoming the teepee home agreed the magnificent artifact will serve as a symbol and educational tool.

"Many stories were told in that tent," Rae Lakes elder Harry Simpson said.

"The tent represents leaders who came together to talk about the future," Rae elder Philip Husky added.

The teepee has survived not only because of the skill of the women who crafted it but also because of the way it was stored.

"The condition of the teepee is testament to the women who tanned it," Andrews said.

Just as importantly, the teepee has never been displayed, preventing damage from ultraviolet rays and human contact.

Historically a number of chemicals, typically arsenic, were used to protect organic artifacts from insects. As a result, many older, larger museums have "poison rooms" where hazardous artifacts have to be kept, Andrews said.

The repatriated Dogrib teepee escaped such a fate because it was treated with PDB, a strong mothball, Andrews said.

"We believe the teepee is the only one of its type still in existence," territorial Culture Minister Charles Dent said.

"The environment of the Western Arctic causes organic materials, such as caribou hides, to disintegrate quickly," he added.

Its repatriation is the culmination of three years of work with the Natural History Museum.

University of Iowa professor June Helm, who has worked with the Dogrib Nation since 1959, and Natural History Museum director George Schrimper helped organize the teepee's return. In April, a delegation from Rae and Yellowknife travelled to Iowa City to accept the teepee from the Natural History Museum.

At Wednesday's ceremony, Helm spoke with Dogrib elders, among them Elizabeth Mackenzie, grandniece of K'aawidaa, by phone from Iowa.

Russell travelled to the Mackenzie Valley for the University of Iowa between 1892 and 1894 and purchased a number of items, many of which have been on continuous display at the Natural History Museum in Iowa City.

The teepee is now part of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre's permanent collection. Over the next year, staff will work with Mackenzie and other members of the Dogrib Nation to develop a display.

A public ceremony to coincide with the opening of a three-month exhibit is planned for next June.

It is hoped two replicas of the artifact will be made for display in Yellowknife and Edzo.