According to AFP, in France on Friday a Paris court dismissed a lawsuit attempting to stop today's auction of 25 sacred objects from the Hopi and San Carlos Apache tribes in Arizona. The judge wrote: "while the sale of these cultural objects can constitute an affront to the dignity of the Hopi tribe, this moral and philosophical consideration does not in itself give the judge the right to suspend the sale of these masks which is not forbidden in France." On Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Paris issued a press release stating that it had delivered a letter to the EVE auction house on behalf of the two Indian tribes requesting a delay in the auction scheduled for Dec. 9-10 so that the tribes "might
have
the opportunity
to
identify
the
objects,
investigate
their
provenance
and
determine
whether
they
have
a
claim
to
recover
the
items
under
the
1970
UNESCO
Convention
on
the
Export
and
Transfer
of
Ownership
of
Cultural
Property,
to
which
France
is
a
signatory,
or
under
other
laws."
UPDATE: AP reports that the EVE auction house went ahead with the sale of the objects, saying that their action is legal under French law. One of the masks being auctioned was purchased by the Hopi's French lawyer who intends to return it to the tribe.
