NPR on Hopi Sacred Objects Returning Home

Here.

An excerpt:

Back in April I reported on a Paris auction house that sold 70 Hopi sacred items. The tribe asked the sale be halted saying the items were stolen and belonged on its reservation in northern Arizona. The Hopi religion is shrouded in secrecy, so the tribe was in a bind. Tribal leaders wanted the media’s help to bring attention to the sale, but they didn’t want to talk about what those items were.

Prior posts here, here, and here.

NYTs: French Court Allows Sale of Hopi Artifacts

Here.

Prior post here.

NYTs: Hopis Try to Stop Paris Auction of Artifacts

Here.

An excerpt:

The Néret-Minet auction house in Paris says that its sale, on April 12, will be one of the largest auctions of Hopi artifacts ever, and it estimates that it will bring in $1 million. Many of the objects are more than 100 years old and carry estimates of $10,000 to $35,000. The auction house says that among the spirits represented are the Crow Mother, the Little Fire God and the Mud Head Clown.

“Sacred items like this should not have a commercial value,” said Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office in Kykotsmovi, Ariz. “The bottom line is we believe they were taken illegally.”