Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the political stakes of efforts by Native American tribes to remove commoditized sacred objects from the Parisian auction market of antiquities. Will continued opposition lead to more acceptance of international declarations protecting indigenous cultural patrimony?

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on the political implications of an effort driven by Native American tribes from the United States to remove commoditized sacred objects from the Parisian auction market. With the support of indigenous solidarity NGO's and the diplomatic participation of the US government, tribes are asserting their "cultural sovereignty" in transnational economic arenas. This analysis is based on fieldwork conducted at contested auctions in Paris and among local actors from the US involved in the trade and regulation of Native art and sacred artifacts.

The artifacts being sold in Paris are conceptualized by auction houses and transnational networks of anonymous buyers of Native objects as "art" and therefore the private property of individual collectors. The right of indigenous collectivities to control sacred artifacts is outlined in non-binding UN international declarations, yet has been resisted by nation-states, including France. While the US has begun to support tribes in their repatriation of these objects, this has been viewed in France as an attack on the sacred French Republican ideal of private property. The French judicial system and auction regulatory board have not ceded the tribes any victories. However, there have been diplomatic discussions between US and French cabinet officials on the possibility of prohibiting these auctions. Will continued opposition to auctions lead to more regulation and acceptance of international declarations? What impact does the rise of tribal sovereignty and transnational indigenous networks have on the sovereignty of the state concerning the ownership of sacred objects?