140-year-old Chilkat blanket to return to Atlin, B.C.

To the Waddington auction house, the Chilkat blanket is a "masterwork of technical and aesthetic achievement", reports CBC News.

To Wayne Carlick of the Taku River Tlingit (First Nation government. Red. note), it is "part of a puzzle to help us heal" and bringing it home to Aitlin (in British Columbia, Canada. Red. note), was essential.   

The elaborate, braided Chilkat blanket, estimated to be from the 1880s, was sold on Friday by auction house Waddington's. And after a bidding war, the blanket could come home to Atlin, for $38,000.

The blanket had been held in an unknown private collection in Ontario before coming up for auction. It could have easily been sold before anybody in Atlin even caught wind of it, had it not been for Peter Wright. 

Wright was born and raised in Atlin, B.C., and now divides his time between Yukon and B.C. He is an collector of art by Yukon's Ted Harrison, so he routinely watches for offerings from some of the bigger auction houses.

When he saw the blanket listed a few weeks ago, he contacted Carlick about the discovery. They started talking about how to purchase it and bring it to Atlin. Waddington's, the auction house, estimated a price of about $15,000 to $20,000.

Chilkat weaving is a traditional form of weaving practiced by Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Northwest Coast peoples of Alaska and British Columbia.