Hopi ceremonial masks sold at auction in paris

Alain Leroy, owner of an auction company in Paris, surrounded by sacred Hopi spirit masks

24 Katsinam, Hopi sacred ceremonial masks, were auctioned off in Paris in
 April 2013.  The sacred masks were verified as being over a century old.
"A few hours before the sale, a Paris municipal court judge had ruled that it could go forward, finding that the masklike objects, despite their divine status among the Hopis, could not be likened to dead or alive beings. A lawyer for the Hopis had argued that the tribe believes that the works embody living spirits, making it immoral to sell them under french law.  
Monroe Warshaw, an art collector from New York who bought two pieces for about $36,500, told The Associated Press that he did not believe that the artifacts had been stolen from the Hopis and praised the anonymous collector for preserving them.  http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/french-judge-rules-that-auction-of-hopi-masks-can-proceed/

TOM MASHBERG  of the New York Times reveals how the Annenberg Foundation from Paris secretly bid and acquired 21 of the masks including the Hopi Crow Mother(circa 1880).  The foundation will return them to the tribe however the masks "cannot be encased in Bubble Wrap, for example, because it would be seen as suffocating the divine spirits. The Hopi have not identified their plans for these artifacts on their return, but they are not viewed as art objects or housed in museums. Typically, Katsinam are still used in spiritual ceremonies or are retired and left to disintegrate naturally."  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/arts/design/secret-bids-guide-hopi-indians-spirits-home.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 

"Hopi religious sensitivities are extreme with regard to the kachina images, which represent supernatural messengers and are adorned in fantastical costumes during ceremonies. There are several hundred spirit characters in the pantheon representing wildlife, plants, human qualities, weather and other facets of nature or society."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/articles/20131211foundation-buys-masks-for-hopis-paris-auction.html

Earlier in 2013 a collection of 70 kachina masks were sold at an auction.  One of these masks was returned to the tribe by their lawyer who purchased it as a gift for the Hopi tribe.
http://www.france24.com/en/20130411-arizona%E2%80%99-hopi-tribe-faces-off-against-paris-auction-house/