US asks French auctioneer to halt sale of native American items

The US is calling for a French auctioneer to halt a sale of artefacts made by Native American tribes set for Monday and instead help items be returned. A letter to the Eve auction house on Friday from Jane Hartley, the US ambassador to France, called for the objects to be pulled from bidding while the Hopi and Navajo tribes “determine if they have recourse to seek their return”. A Navajo delegation argues the objects belong to the tribe -- which considers them living beings -- after viewing the items at the Drouot auction house in Paris, according to an embassy statement.The delegation spotted eight “sacred” masks.