Northwest Coast Native Art Tlingit Style Eagle War Helmet Tribal Art Decor

Description

Northwest Coast Native Art Tlingit Style Eagle or Raven Crest War Helmet Tribal Art Decor
This has been in my family since the 70s.  It was purchased new as home decor.
Unsigned
Plaster
Measurements: 10" tall, 11"+ irregular diameter
The condition is wonderful.
Note:  the last photo (inside), at the very inside is a cluster of knotted rope.
After extensive research, I could find only one similar looking helmet that was rediscovered in 2013 in Springfield Science Museum.  It had been mislabeled for 100 years. I can't post links here, but here is a snippet from gmachie
Northwest Coast Archaeology if you would like to learn about and see an authentic helmet (you will have to search for the article and photo).
"This is the kind of cool story that makes me want to poke around in all the community museums I see.  A fantastic Tlingit war helmet has been recently rediscovered in the backroom of a museum in Springfield, Massachusetts.  The helmet was accessioned in 1899 as an “Aleutian hat” and the designation was never questioned until now.  The news article about it suggests only 95 of these helmets are known, with the largest collections found in Russia.  They are part of an elaborate system of
armour
known from the contact and early historic period in
Tlingit
territory (Southeast Alaska – Alaska Panhandle)."
There is more information and a 2016 update about repatriation from the Anchorage Daily News.
"The helmet is one of less than 100 known in existence today, said Alaska State Museum curator of collections Steve Henrikson. It's likely from the early to
mid-1800s,
and was intended for use in battle by Tlingit warriors. Only three or four of those helmets remain in Alaska today, Henrikson said."
"In 2008, a similar helmet sold at auction for more than million. But its monetary value is of little matter to either the museum or the Tlingit people."
"Sealaska Heritage Institute vice chair Rosita Worl described the war helmet as an at
.óowu
-- meaning "an object that was owned by a clan and holds the Spirit of the Eagle. It embodies the spirit of our ancestors" who created and used the hat. Worl wrote in an email that "its emergence signifies that the ancestral spirits want and need to come home."
"The Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has already started the repatriation process on the helmet, President Edward Thomas confirmed on Tuesday. Founded in 1935, the Tlingit Haida Central Council is a federally recognized regional tribe in Southeast Alaska. Folks who are aware of the object's existence are excited about it, Thomas said."
"However, the uniqueness of this object may present an additional challenge for the council."
"Most objects are associated with a clan, not a moiety (either the Eagle or Raven moiety, in Tlingit-Haida lineage). Since the helmet appears to belongs to the Eagle moiety, "we want to be careful" not to offend any involved parties, and will take some broad discussions to determine where the helmet will end up if brought back to Alaska."
Both are fascinating reads.