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Hopi Ask For Help To Stop Auction Of Sacred Items
Photo by Laurel Morales
A Katsina depicted in a mural at the Museum of Northern Arizona
A Paris auction house is planning another sale of Hopi sacred items on June 1. The Arizona tribe is demanding their return.
The Hopi call them “katsina friends” and treat them as living beings or spirits. Seven katsina friends, or headdresses, currently appear on the EVE auction house website. The catalogue indicates the items are worth between $3,000 and $13,000.
But the tribe said they should not have a commercial value and should not be hanging above someone’s mantel.
Hopi tribal leaders have asked Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake to direct federal agencies to help return the items to the Hopi people.
“We need to bring all our katsina friends home to their rightful place on Hopi Lands," Hopi Chairman Herman Honanie said in a statement. "They belong on Hopi and must be returned.”
