Sealaska Heritage Institute Director of Archives and Collections Emily Galgano shows the back of a Chilkat robe on loan from the Rahr-West Museum in Wisconsin. June 20, 2024. (Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
Sealaska Heritage Institute Director of Archives and Collections Emily Galgano shows the back of a Chilkat robe on loan from the Rahr-West Museum in Wisconsin. June 20, 2024. (Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)

In the basement of the Walter Soboleff building on a recent afternoon, Emily Galgano opened a huge white cabinet. She pulled out a long drawer with a Chilkat robe laying inside. The robe’s colors are faded. 

“So it could be very old, or it could…