Again an auction of Hopi Katsinam Friends in France

Hopi Chairman Herman Honanie on Wednesday called for the Justice Department and other federal agencies to take whatever actions they can to block planned auctions in France of ceremonial katsina faces, considered sacred to the tribe. Already twice I went to Paris to go and watch what happened during the sales of the Hopi Katsinam Friends. There was each time a lot of protest, but the French authorities don't seem to care.
The Arizona congressional delegation asked U.S. agencies to help block katsina auctions.
Two auctions in Paris of the sacred Hopi objects are planned during June.
Five auctions have taken place since 2013, despite efforts by the Hopi to stop them.
The point of view of the Hopi is clear: I quote here:
Hopi leaders, backed by Arizona's entire congressional delegation, on Wednesday called for the Justice Department and other federal agencies to take whatever actions they can to block planned auctions in France of ceremonial katsina faces, considered sacred to the tribe.
"We need to bring all our katsina friends home to their rightful place on the Hopi lands," declared tribal Chairman Herman Honanie. "Hopi is absolute in its stance that these auctions must cease. We call on all local, state and federal agencies to aid our efforts..."
During a news conference at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Honanie said auction houses in Paris have scheduled sales of the visages on June 1 and June 10, with a total of 13 ceremonial katsinas. At least five similar auctions have been conducted since April 2013, despite Hopi efforts to stop them through French courts and regulatory agencies.
All 11 of Arizona's U.S. Senate and House members signed a letter dated May 21 to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey, asking the agencies to investigate "potential options the federal government could take to address the Hopi Tribe's concerns."
The Heard Museum and the Museum of Northern Arizona, meanwhile, released copies of a letter they addressed to French President Francois Hollande, requesting his "intervention." That correspondence says the auctions constitute "the sale of stolen property, which is obviously legally prohibited both in the United States and around the world."

Last time, at the second auction we all tried to have the sales forbidden: but the French courts decided differently. It was a sad day and the guards at the auction house were over bearing and intimidating. The auction master had no respect in handling and speaking about the katsinam.
The main point is, that the objects in the auction are sacred, ceremonial objects. They have power. They are not tourist pieces. My small shrine I have  does not hold ceremonial pieces. Just pieces that bring me joy and remind me of the beauty of Hopi ceremony and the way of life of the Hopi.

Once again sacred Hopi objects will be sold by a Paris auction house

Survival International, a NGO defending the rights of the First Nations will be back in court in order to try and stop a new sale of 25 Friends - No, they are not masks - they are living entities, used in sacred ceremonies. This time it is the auction house EVE offering for sale among other two highly esteemed Katsinam: the Crow Mother and the Friend used in the Snake Dance. These ceremonies are not open to the public since they are so sacred. The sale will be on December 9 and the friendly spirits are already on show. The sale will be once again in La Maison Drouot.The Hopi are a small nation in Arizona. Their ceremonies and religious dances are important to them. Some dances are public and then you can enjoy the beauty of it all. It saddens me that my friends once again are hurt by greed and lack of understanding. Some items have been shown in April by Minet-Neret.

The repatriation of artefacts and religious and ceremonial objects

The Katchinas on the art market and the forever higher prices are a thorny, multifaceted subject. The collecting frenzy concerning the Kachina dolls carved in cottonwood root is unimaginable. Of course people prefer to buy the old and authentic figures. In the old days and still today they were given to the Pueblo children as an educational tool of their spiritual life. They used to be hung by a string on the wall or between woven mats between the beams on the ceiling. Often adorned with stylized symbols these fascinating figures are usually connected to clouds, rain, corn, fertility. Artists and anthropologists always were interested in these colorful, often bizarre sculpting; also the Dadaists with among others Maw Ernst, Man ray and André Breton. At the public sale of Breton’s estate on the 17^th of April 2003 all the native art from his collections was auctioned of. The Katchinas fetched prices between 5000 € and 50.000 €. The Ethnological Museum from Marseille has been able to obtain one for 25.000 €. This poses a problem: Hopi, Zuni and an other nation from the plains had asked the famous auction house Hôtel Drouot in Paris, not to sell seven specific items. They were still active religious objects and the communities to which they belonged wished to use them. Without them the ritual connected to the object cannot be performed. The Katchinas and other objects are of vital importance for the well being of the peoples whose ancestors have made these objects in a ritual way. Impolite, not to say rudely Pierre Amrouche replied along the line that: your request doesn’t regard us… we do not have to comply with American law and that is a good thing” (source: Karenne Wood, responsible for the coordination of the repatriation of Native American objects). The request wasn’t even passed on to André Breton’s heirs. And legally the auction house is right, but once again ritually important objects disappeared in an overseas museum or in a private collection.

Today the Kachinas are still carved from the same roots. The style has subtly changed over the centuries, were it only because acrylic paint is used and that is much more colorful than old, vegetal dyes. The oldest images seem flatter and stiffer, with the arms close to the body, where as today one finds the arms in all kinds of positions. Basically the makers of the old Kachinas are anonymous, although the excellent doll carvers can be recognized by their style.  The problem isn’t the normal images one find in many collections, but the ritually active objects that have been stolen or other wise obtained in an unacceptable way. Although the collectors and the museums take good care of their objects, they don’t know how these objects have to be taken care of in a ritual way. Those who know these secrets, are initiated to do this in their respective societies are the only ones who can perform the task of caring for these objects. The art collectors are unaware that he is dealing with a manifestation of something spiritual or godly. And then the question: how much does one pay for that?  Can such an artifact be sold…?

This case is doubly hard, as the nations had asked for these objects. It happens that objects are repatriated, but that the tribes do not have the accommodations to keep the objects, or to display them. Moreover if the objects still have their power, that power can be contaminated by having been in the proximity of other objects with a different power. Some feathers and “masks” that had been given back, made the wearers of them very sick. It turned out that in order to kill the lice in the feathers and other things that could destroy them, the museum had used arsenic…

from the book: Wevers tussen twee werelden, Kramat, 2004

AFP article about the sale of Hopi Friends in Paris, April 12

Opposition to the sale of seventy Hopi masks in Paris

The auction house Néret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou maintain the auctioning of seventy sacred masks of the Hopi Indians, to be held on Friday, April 12^th at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris. The Museum of Northern Arizona, the Heard Museum of Phoenix and also the Bureau for the Preservation of Hopi Culture have called for its cancellation, claiming their property rights. These Katsinam masks (see picture),  worn by the dancers during religious ceremonies forbidden for white people, are considered sacred by the Hopi tribe, which lives in the North-East of Arizona. Several such items have been sold in Paris when the collection of André Breton got dispersed in 2003. These pieces can now be found in the great European Museums, the auction house reminds us. They emphasize that the Hopi base themselves on an article of the Hopi constitution which is not recognized in France because it is not a state, in order to reclaim items which have been acquired in a completely legal way by a great French collector.(AFP- Agence Press France)

A few thoughts: The pride in European museums seems to me a strange line of defense: should the Hopi come to Europe to hold the ceremonies in the 'great European Museums'? A second thought is that the Hopi as well as the other Pueblo like Zuni, Acoma and Jemez are nations within the USA. I would assume that the USA through their Department of Foreign Affairs could represent the Hopi Nation.

Hopi Katsinam alert

Sadness reigns and I am afraid that also arrogance is at play. There are few means at the disposal of the Hopi to try and repatriate their sacred Katsinam. The tribe receives help from two major museum directors. The tribe also receives advice from the State and Interior Departments, but each agency says its ability to intervene is limited. The sale is supposed to bring one million dollar. Some people are suggesting to hold a collection and buy the Katsinam in order to repatriate them and give them back to the Hopi, the Zuni, Jemez and Acoma. Most of the Katsinam are over 100 years old. I love Katsinas and own three of the small 'dolls' carved to teach their meaning to children and which can be sold to tourists. Yet the Katsinam in the auction are ceremonial sacred objects with a specific function. They are irreplaceable. Only their rightful custodians know how to care for them, how to use their power. International law seems not to regulate this situation. Yet moral law does. The auctioneers wonder why another auction last December by a smaller auction house in Paris didn't cause any reaction. Well, the Hopi didn't know, could not react. I know that Hopi religion is has strict ways of doing things and as a visitor on Hopi it is easy to do something inappropriate out of ignorance. Selling these Katsinam is inappropriate. The auction house Neret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou knows it is. The tribes, museums and individuals caring about this disastrous sale have told them so.

Please do tell them too, let them know how you feel:

M. Eric GENESTE

31bis rue du Faubourg Montmartre

75009 PARIS

Tèl: # 33 6.72.74.71.42

Email: erics@wanadoo.fr

70 Hopi Katsinam friends in auction - continued...

Yesterday I explained a bit why these Friends should not be auctioned off but returned to the Hopi Nation.

One should be aware that the items to be auctioned by Néret-Minet are religious artifacts, cultural property and considered by the Hopi people to be stolen goods. As I explained yesterday these objects have a deep spiritual meaning and are extremely important to the continuation of Hopi religion. The well-being of the Hopi people depends also on them in the long run. If someone years ago has bought these items then  one should be aware that whomever had those items in custody sa only the caretaker of those items and not the owner. That person had no legal authority to sell them. These Katsinam masks are community property as well as cultural property. By law and custom these items are not mere old religious paraphernalia. The spirit of the beings they represent is contained in them. Translated from Hopi language, they are Friends and can never be personal property. I am convinced that American law, if not international law protect just this kind of items. When a few weeks ago catholic items were robbed from a church in Hungary, there followed an outcry that these old object are not art objects, but items used in religious ceremonies. It is truly important that these Hopi Friends be returned home to the Hopi religious societies that have always been and still are responsible for the welfare and care-taking of these Masks and other objects. I hope the auction house well engage in a dialog with the Hopis so that these Friends can be repatriated to the appropriate Hopi religious society. I only now begin to understand what it means to have a structured worldview with different societies and clans each fulfilling a function within the whole of Hopi and the world according to a strict calendar where time and space is linked and thus forms the religious ceremonial cycle.  And don’t think it is all sullen and serious….  Hopi like to laugh and talk and joke.  In Hopi culture there are no medicine men. Hopi have healers, often specializing in broken bones or broken spirits… To mend broken spirits the communal ceremonies are important and for that all the Katsinam need to come home. I add a declaration of the Hopi Nation:
          "Pursuant to ARTICLE VI –POWERS OF THE TRIBAL COUNCIL, SECTION 1, (k) CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE HOPI TRIBE, the Hopi Tribe/Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, of Arizona, USA, strongly opposes any sale of Hopi religious objects, described by your auction house as “70 Katsinam masks of the Hopi Indians of Arizona…”.  These Katsina friends are sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony held under religious custody by the Hopi people:
                "It is our position that these sacred objects should have never left the jurisdiction of the Hopi Tribe.  Also, no Hopi has any right or authority to transfer and sell these items currently in your possession as they are considered cultural patrimony.
                "Religious objects such as these, have no commercial value.  It is our position that no one, other than a Hopi tribal member, has a right to possess these ceremonial objects.
                "You are urgently asked to take these item off your auction and inform your clients that the Hopi tribe does not approve of them being auctioned off.  Rather, we urge you and your clients to make immediate contact with the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office to begin respectful discussions to return them back to the tribe.
                "You may also know that the country of France, was among the first nations to sign the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights.  Your auction house needs to respect this important international recognition of indigenous and Hopi rights.
                "Thank you for your consideration of our position on this matter.”

                Leigh J, Kuwanwisiwma, Director, Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, Hopi Tribe

Hopi "Friends" for sale: seventy Hopi Katsinam

My real life Hopi friends are horrified. Seventy Hopi Katsinam will be sold in auction in France. The horror is that these Katsinam are irreplaceable and that with the loss of each Katsinam, the ceremony is also lost. Some are valuable, but that is not the issue for the Hopi. For their world to remain in a delicate balance, they must perform at the right time and place the relevant ceremony with the right Katsinam. Some ceremonies can no longer be performed because the Katsinam representing the spirit or specific force or power has been stolen or is lost to them. The sale of seventy Katsinam, offered at Néret-Minet (Maison Drouot in Paris) is a painful loss, yes a disaster. These helpers, these seventy friends should be brought home. Under American law they should be repatriated to the Hopi Nation. The auction house knows this, from their good description of the pieces on can easily deduct that they know about the power of these friends but prefer the power of cash and carry. Katsinam should never be sold on the auction block. The sadness on Hopi is immeasurable. The art stolen under the Nazi regime is also in the process of being returned to their original owners families. Let the same rule be applied: return these sacred Katsinam to the Hopi nation. Do take action:
The sale is on April 12, 2013.
The people handling the sale for Néret-Minet are:

Cabinet Geneste

M. Eric GENESTE

31bis rue du Faubourg Montmartre

75009 PARIS

Tèl: 06.72.74.71.42

Email: erics@wanadoo.fr