Sacred Native American objects put up for auction in Paris

  • 10 years ago
The sale of sacred Native American objects went ahead in Paris Monday despite objections from Arizona tribes and the U.S. embassy in France.

Over 20 sacred effigies, called Kachina dolls, from the Hopi and the neighboring Zuni tribe of New Mexico were included in the sale, as well as items from Arizona's San Carlos Apache tribe.

The masks date from the 19th and early 20th centuries and are viewed by the Native American Hopi tribe as representatives of messengers to the gods, and the spirits of ancestors and natural forces. The Native American tribes want the sale suspended because of the masks' cultural and religious significance, but a French judge dismissed their legal challenge last week.

(SOUNDBITE) PIERRE SERVAN-SCHREIBER, LAWYER FOR HOPI TRIBE, SAYING:

"After having massacred them two centuries ago, after having parked them in reservations one century ago, after having pretty much deprived them of the right to work normally last century, you now deprive th

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