Survival International: Sacred object returned to Hopi after shameful Paris auction

Sacred object handed back to Hopi tribe after ‘shameful’ Paris auction 15 July 2013

Photo: The katsina was handed over to Hopi chairman and religious leaders by lawyer Pierre Servan-Schreiber and Survival International's Jean Patrick Razon (no photography was allowed during the handover itself).

© Survival

In a historic handover ceremony, an object sacred to the Hopi people has been returned to Hopi after dozens of katsinam (‘friends’) were sold at a Paris auction house in April 2013 despite repeated requests and litigation.
Representatives of tribal rights organization Survival International and lawyer Pierre Servan-Schreiber returned the katsina to Hopi.
The katsinam are of cultural and religious significance to the Hopi, who were vehemently opposed to the auction and asked the Paris auction house Neret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou to cancel the sale on the grounds that the objects are considered sacred to Hopi.
Read more at Survival International:  http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/9360