Native Americans Protest Planned French Auction of Artifacts

[TomSea]

Native Americans Protest Planned French Auction of Artifacts

 Native American leaders are protesting the latest plan by a Paris auction house to sell off part of their tribal history, and their demand for the return of their ceremonial objects is getting bipartisan support.

Hundreds of religious items and art pieces from the Americas, Africa and Asia are scheduled to go up for bidding Monday at Paris' EVE auction house, including a Plains war shirt made with hair from human scalps and sacred Hopi objects that resemble masks and are considered to be living beings by the tribe.

Ahead of the sale, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian held an emergency meeting Tuesday with tribal officials, the State Department and federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Also at the meeting was U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican whose proposed congressional resolution urges federal agencies to seek their return.

Pearce also is calling for a study to examine how often these kinds of cultural items fall into the hands of traffickers on the black market.

Read More At: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/native-groups-protest-planned-french-auction-artifacts-39327049