A French civil court judge heard arguments for two hours Thursday and said she will rule Friday on whether a major auction of sacred Hopi Indian artifacts can go forward in Paris despite claims by the tribe that they were stolen and that selling them is sacrilegious.
A decision from Municipal Court Judge Magali Bouvier is scheduled for noon and the auction is planned for 2:30 p.m.
An attorney representing the tribe pro bono, Pierre Servan-Schreiber of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, told Judge Bouvier that French law bars the sale of “non-commercial†items deemed “immoral to sell.†The Hopis believe the masks and headdresses, which they call Katsinam, or “friends,†embody living spirits. They say they are intended for religious ceremonies only and not meant to be collected or sold.
Mr. Servan-Schreiber also cited a law that prevents the sale of “emotionally charged†objects that have been in a family so long they have become communal, multi-generational property. “This sale is at the crossroads of those two issues,†Mr. Servan-Schreiber told the judge. “Just because they are Hopi objects in France does not mean they should not be covered.â€
Gilles Néret-Minet, head of the Néret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou auction house, said his lawyer countered that “the claim that Hopi cultural patrimony is exclusively their property has no legal basis according to French law.†He said he was confident his side would prevail and that he planned to go forward with the sale of 70 items, which he said had been obtained legally by a French collector.
On Wednesday, American diplomats met with their French counterparts to express concern over the auction, a United States Embassy spokesman said.
