SUQUAMISH — After 175 years, the ancestor is returning home.

The National Museum of Natural History plans to repatriate to the Suquamish Tribe the remains of a person removed in 1841 from his or her burial site in what is now Port Orchard.

According to an official notice by the national museum, which is operated by the Smithsonian Institution, the remains were “collected” from a canoe burial by Assistant Surgeon Silas Holmes of the Wilkes Expedition.

“The remains were sent to the National Institute, a precursor to the Smithsonian,” according to the notice. “The remains were transferred to the Army Medical Museum in 1869 and returned to the Smithsonian in 1910. The human remains have been found to be culturally affiliated with the Suquamish Tribe.”

The Wilkes Expedition, formally known as the U.S. Exploring Expedition, was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands from 1838 to 1842. Ships that were part of the expedition visited Kitsap waters.

The Suquamish Tribal Council issued this statement on March 10: “The Suquamish Tribe is relieved that the process for returning the remains of our honored ancestor taken from our homeland by American explorers in 1841 is nearly complete. We look forward to closing this unfortunate chapter of tribal and local history. We request privacy as we plan and undertake our ceremonial duty to return our ancestor to their rightful place.”

Congress established the National Museum of the American Indian in 1989 with the passage of the National Museum of the American Indian Act, according to the museum website. The act transferred to the Smithsonian Institution stewardship of the more than 800,000 objects in the George Gustav Heye collection of the Museum of the American Indian in New York City. In addition, the act required the Smithsonian to create and carry out an institution-wide repatriation policy regarding Native American human remains and certain cultural materials.

“The NMAI Act requires Smithsonian museums to inventory, identify, and consider for return — if requested by a Native community or individual — American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian human remains and funerary objects,” the website states.

The repatriation process could take a couple of months and will likely be private, Suquamish Tribe spokeswoman April Leigh said.