Paris • The largest American Indian tribe in the American Southwest won its bid Monday to buy back seven sacred masks at a contested auction of tribal artifacts in Paris.
The objects for sale at the Drouot auction house included religious masks, colored in pigment, that are believed to have been used in Navajo wintertime healing ceremonies but that generally are disassembled and returned to the Earth once the nine-day ceremonies conclude.
The sale went ahead despite efforts by the U.S. government and Arizona's congressional delegation to halt it.
The sales at the auction — which totaled $1.12 million — also included dozens of Hopi kachina dolls and several striking Pueblo masks embellished with horse hair, bone and feathers, thought to be from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Associated Press is not transmitting images of the objects because the Navajo and Hopi have strict rules against recording and photographing ceremonies featuring the items that otherwise are kept entirely out of public view. The Navajo Nation initially included a photo of the masks in a news release but later retracted it, saying it was a mistake. The Hopi tribe considers it sacrilegious for any of the images of the objects to appear.
The U.S. Embassy in Paris had asked Drouot to suspend the sale to allow Navajo and Hopi representatives to determine if they were stolen from the tribes. But Drouot refused, arguing that the auction was in accordance with the law.
Navajo Nation Vice President Rex Lee Jim said the objects were not art but "living and breathing beings" that should not be traded commercially.
Jim, a medicine man who traveled to Paris for the auction with three other Navajo officials, said they were unable to determine the exact provenance of the artifacts but said they had to face the reality of the auction and buy them back.
The Navajo Nation representatives bid for seven masks at the auction, winning them for $9,120 despite a bidding war with a private collector. French art collector Armand Hui bid for several masks but backed down when he saw that tribal members had come in person buy them.
"I wanted to respect that," he said.
Native American Navajo Nation Vice president, Rex Lee Jim, poses for the media outside of the Drouot's auction house prior to the contested auction of Native American Navajo tribe masks in Paris, Monday Dec. 15, 2014. Navajo officials have spent several hundred thousand euros to buy back seven tribal masks put up for sale at a disputed auction despite the U.S. Embassy in Paris asking Drouot to suspend the sale to allow Navajo and Hopi representatives to determine where they came from. (AP Photo/Francois Mori )
A supporter of Native Americans holds a leaflet reading "Stop cultural genocide, Eve auction house must stop" to protest outside of the Drouot's auction house during the contested auction of Native American items in Paris, Monday Dec. 15, 2014. Navajo officials have spent several hundred thousand euros to buy back seven tribal masks put up for sale at a disputed auction despite the U.S. Embassy in Paris asking Drouot to suspend the sale to allow Navajo and Hopi representatives to determine where they came from. (AP Photo/Francois Mori )
Supporters of Native Americans hold a banner reading "Selling and handling stolen goods equals to a cultural genocide", at center, and "We are not for sale", left, in protest outside of the Drouot's auction house during the contested auction of Native American artifacts in Paris, Monday Dec. 15, 2014. Navajo officials have spent several hundred thousand euros to buy back seven tribal masks put up for sale at a disputed auction despite the U.S. Embassy in Paris asking Drouot to suspend the sale to allow Navajo and Hopi representatives to determine where they came from. (AP Photo/Francois Mori )
Native American, from the Kichwa Guarani tribe, named Jackson, holds a banner reading "We are not for sale" outside of the Drouot's auction house in protest at the auction of Native American Navajo tribe masks in Paris, Monday Dec. 15, 2014. Navajo officials have spent several hundred thousand euros to buy back seven tribal masks put up for sale at a disputed auction despite the U.S. Embassy in Paris asking Drouot to suspend the sale to allow Navajo and Hopi representatives to determine where they came from. (AP Photo/Francois Mori )
French lawyer Pierre Servan-Schreiber defending Native Americans speaks to the media at the Drouot's auction house during the contested auction of Native American items in Paris, Monday Dec. 15, 2014. Navajo officials have spent several hundred thousand euros to buy back seven tribal masks put up for sale at a disputed auction despite the U.S. Embassy in Paris asking Drouot to suspend the sale to allow Navajo and Hopi representatives to determine where they came from. (AP Photo/Francois Mori )