Sale of tribal shield halted; what’s next

The laws of a rural New Mexico Native American tribe require that the ceremonial shield stay within the boundaries of its reservation, which covers miles of mountains and rolling desert. And for generations, the sacred object did just that, remaining safely in a home atop a mesa.

So when a photo of the colorful shield recently emerged on a Paris auction house’s website, Acoma Pueblo leaders moved to halt its sale. A legal challenge in the French courts ensued, followed by an emotional public appeal from the pueblo’s governor and an affidavit alleging the shield disappeared after a break-in.

Top US officials also called for French authorities to intervene. What came next was a rare announcement last month by Paris’ EVE auction house that the item was being withdrawn from bidding on the day it was to be sold, with the only explanation that it was being held pending further examination.

“I do know the French government looked closely at the issue and did the right thing in pulling the shield from the auction,” said Larry Roberts, who oversees the US Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs and joined in pushing for the sale to be blocked. “I think France is to be congratulated for that.”

But as tribes and their advocates hail the shield’s suspended auction and await a final ruling on whether it will be returned to Acoma Pueblo, some collectors fear the move — along with pending investigations on both sides of the Atlantic — will send a chill through the tribal artifacts market.

In New Mexico, federal authorities, including the FBI, say they are looking into how the shield came on the market. However, a US attorney spokeswoman has declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, French authorities have asked Acoma Pueblo to produce more documents, including another affidavit, for their review, said Kurt Riley, the pueblo’s governor.

“When these items do go, we don't really know when, where, how it all occurred, and all of the sudden they're popping up overseas,” Riley said. “We’re in the dark as well. But we do know it never should have left the bounds of the reservation, and so once it's gone, we know it's a violation of our traditional law.” Whether that violation of traditional law also means the person who bought and sent the shield to France broke U.S. law, too, is at the centre of much of the debate now surrounding the shield.

Without answers, the Native American artifacts market could seem like a “dicier and dicier” place to do business, said Robert Gallegos, a former president of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association.

French dealers at EVE, Drouot and other Paris auction houses for years have stood their ground against similar high-profile protests, refusing to halt sales and saying doing so could have repercussions for the art market in general.

They have maintained all the objects — including war shirts and mask-like pieces the Hopi say are the physical embodiment of their ancestors — were acquired and sold legally under French and US laws. But that’s something many of the tribes dispute.