Wilksilaks transfer of knowledge: A working model for maintaining tradition.

Nisga'a cultural artifact repatriation efforts began from the moment the artifacts were removed from Nisga'a communities. This qualitative study presents Nisga'a repatriation from a different perspective than in the current literature. An indigenous paradigm is developed and used to examine Nisga'a repatriation from within the Nisga'a worldview. Two interconnected groups of Nisga'a elders and wilksilaks (relatives on paternal side having specific obligations) revealed the connection of tradition to Nisga'a repatriation efforts spanning four generations of the author's family. It is revealed that the knowledge of the importance and significance of repatriation to the Nisga'a community was held in trust and transferred to each generation to its successful completion. This research is important for two reasons: (1) it adds to the current ethnography of the Northwest Coast describing the wilksilaks (relatives on paternal side having specific obligations) in a matrilineal culture and (2) it demonstrates how traditional institutions adapted to deal with contemporary issues, like repatriation of cultural artifacts. --P.ii.