PARIS (AP) — A judge has ruled that the controversial sale of 32 Native American Hopi masks can go ahead next week.
The Hopi tribe had taken a Paris auction house to court Tuesday to try to block the sale, arguing that they are “bitterly opposed” to the use as commercial art of sacred masks that represent their ancestor’s spirits.
Corinne Matouk, a lawyer who represented the Drouot auction house said the law was on their side.
“In French law there is nothing stopping the sale of Hopi artifacts.”
The “Katsinam” masks are being put on sale by a private collector on Dec. 9 and 11, alongside an altar from the Zuni tribe that used to belong to late Hollywood star Vincent Price, and other Native American frescoes and dolls.
The tribe has said it believes the masks, which date back to the late 19th and early 20th century, were taken from a northern Arizona reservation in the early 20th century.
In April, a Paris court ruled that such sales are legal, and Drouot sold off around 70 Hopi masks for some 880,000 euros ($1.2 million) despite vocal protests and criticism from actor Robert Redford and the U.S. government.
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Thomas Adamson can be followed at Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP
Festivities will include medicine making classes, ornamental decorating workshops, gingerbread house workshops, local vendors, food and beverages and much more!
The Columbian social issues & neighborhoods reporter
T. Lulani Arquette
T. Lulani Arquette believes that the original, nature-based values of Native American peoples still have a lot to teach a Western culture that she said is teetering on the edge of suicide.
She’s wary of “noble savage” stereotypes, she said, but when she looks around at the degradation of our planet, she can’t help but conclude that our drive to conquer and use nature is misguided at best. “There is a more sacred view of the circle of life,” she said. For all their diversity, the original nations of North America did share that essential view.
Arquette is president and CEO of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, a nonprofit agency founded in 2007 as a sort of “Native National Endowment for the Arts,” she said. Originally seeded with Ford Foundation money, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation meant to make its home in Portland, Arquette said, but somebody advised her to check out Vancouver. The Historic Reserve area was so full of relevant history that the foundation seemed a perfect fit there, she said, and set up shop on Officers Row until a combination of rising rent and organizational growth spurred it to move to a bigger, more practical space on Northeast 112th Avenue.
Native Arts and Cultures Foundation “traditional arts” fellow Israel Shotridge and one of his creations.
The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation aims to take on difficult problems — environmental, economic, cultural — through great artworks created by Native Americans. Since 2010, the foundation has supported 85 artists nationwide with $1.6 million in grants. Poetry and painting, film and dance, traditional and edgily post-modern — all sorts of artworks by all sorts of American Indian, Alaskan and Hawaiian artists have been produced thanks to the support of the Vancouver-based foundation.
The foundation just announced its fellowships for 2014: a total of $220,000 for 16 artists, including Israel Shotridge, a totem pole restoration artist and Tlingit Indian based in Vashon, to Brooke Swaney, a Blackfeet/Salish filmmaker from Poison, Mont.
Perhaps because there are so few Native Americans in Clark County (less than 1 percent of the population), the foundation has found precious few local artists to support. It is an ongoing supporter of downtown Vancouver’s Ke Kukui Foundation (kekukuifoundation.org), which presents an annual Hawaiian Festival in Esther Short Park the third weekend of every July. It helped Ke Kukui bring an independent Hawaiian film event to the Kiggins Theatre in November. And it has sponsored summer workshops for young people.
Arquette — a native Hawaiian with degrees in both political science and theater — said she’d love to connect more with Clark County Native American artists and cultural institutions. The foundation’s fellowships aren’t for beginners, however — they’re for developed artists who have produced a “substantial body of work” and are at the top of their game, Arquette said.
Learn more about the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation at nativeartsandcultures.org.
Bits ‘n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, email bits@columbian.com.
Two Four Corners start-up businesses are getting international attention, and they haven’t even opened their doors.
Chief on a board the Ignacio Colorado startup company is hoping to break into the longboard business.
The company combines their Southern Ute culture with the growing demand for becoming active.
They hope their line longboards motivate people to get moving.
“We want to get a generation of kids off the couch playing video games to go outside and go enjoy some fresh air,” said Co-owner Diamond Morgan.
Their designs are inspired by their Native American background.
They hope to create a positive image of their culture.
“Some native Americans designs are misleading and therefore we want to capitalize on that we are still here we want to move forward,” said Anthony Porambo.
Chief on a board and another Farmington based company, Rincón brewery— just one a local competition at the Four Corners Startup Weekend.
“I think we have a good quality product I’m an award winning home brewer and everybody like my beer,” said Steve Haney of Rincon Brewery.
Now both teams will compete in worldwide competition online called the Global Startup Battle.
Even if the teams don’t win the global startup, they’ll both still get a boost.
They’ll get their own space like this one rent free at San Juan College for six months.
In order for the two teams to get to the second round, they have to get enough votes. To vote for the teams, head over to the Four Corners Economic Development page and a link is under the team’s pictures.
5:00pm to 10:00 pm All Ages
Dec. 5th-8th, 12th-15th, 18th-23rd, 26th-29th Tulalip night Dec. 23rd. Be sure to bring your Tribal ID www.warmbeach.com/lights-of-christmas
Chief Seattle Club invites you to our First Thursday Art Walk and Christmas Bazaar on Thursday, December 5, and Friday, December 6, from 3:00-8:00 p.m. each day.
Get your holiday shopping done early and support small business by buying from our Native vendors who will feature handmade arts and crafts, jewelry and more. We’ll have a bake sale and Indian tacos by Off the Rez.We are proud to observe and comply with the Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
Burke Museum, Burke Room
Wed., Dec. 4, 2013 | 7 – 9 pm
$5 at the door. Free to Burke Museum members.
Join Editor Gregory Fields, Coast Salish carver Felix Soloman (Lummi/Haida), and pigment and paint specialist, Melonie Ancheta, for a richly illustrated discussion of the life and influence of Joseph Hillaire who is recognized as one of the great Coast Salish artists, carvers, and tradition-bearers of the twentieth century.
Prof. Fields will introduce the book, “A Totem Pole History: the Work of Lummi Carver Joe Hillaire,” along with the songs and stories recorded by Hillaire and his daughter, Pauline. Contemporary carver Felix Solomon, noted for his work in the revitalization and perpetuation of Coast Salish Lummi carving, will also present.
A Totem Pole History: the Work of Lummi Carver Joe Hillaire
The book includes chapters by Felix Soloman, Bill Holm, Barbara Brotherton, Skokomish artist and scholar CHiXapkaid Michael Pavel, Melonie Ancheta, and others. In addition to the book, a media companion (a DVD and two audio CDs) titled “Coast Salish Totem Poles” will be available and includes Lummi stories, songs, and an illustrated presentation of Pauline Hillaire interpreting several of her father’s major totem poles.
Doors open at 6:30 pm. $5 at the door. Free to Burke Museum members.
Kim Snyder fixes a watch clasp at Wagner Jewelers in Marysville on Nov. 20. — image credit: Amy Wadkins
Every day is about a small business when you own one.
That point is clear to people like Brent Emory, owner of E&E Lumber and Home Center. The business has been at 1364 State Ave. in Marysville for more than 40 years.
“We’re open every day,” Emory said. “We’re doing something every day, every month, and we’re having fun on a day-to-day basis.”
The business offers military and senior discounts, as well as 20 percent off all in-store merchandise on the first Saturday of every month. This year, Emory is again planning to be part of Small Business Saturday, set for Nov. 30.
“It’s a great concept,” he said. “We are recognizing it and participating however we can.”
Small Business Saturday was started three years ago by American Express to promote local stores across the country. It asks people to shop locally the Saturday after Thanksgiving to celebrate and rally behind small businesses.
Marysville’s small businesses make up 90 percent of its business community and “serve as the heart and soul of the city,” according to Caldie Rogers, president and CEO of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce.
“They work long hours, provide local jobs, generate city revenue for the services our residents need, and donate their time and their money to our local non-profits, putting the quality of life in our way of life,” Rogers said.
The Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce is urging all residents to shop Marysville on Small Business Saturday, added Rogers.
The Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber of Commerce is also asking people to shop locally on Nov. 30, said Chamber President Kristen Granroth. A day like Small Business Saturday encourages people to discover products and services that are available locally, and the hope is those new customers will turn into repeat customers, she said.
“If one person goes downtown to buy something and sees another business where they might be able to get products or services, it’s a success in my book,” Granroth said. “Shopping locally all year long is our go-to message. It only benefits all of us; our schools, our lifestyles, our businesses.”
At least 20 businesses are new to the Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber this year, according to Granroth. At 212 members, the chamber has hit its highest membership total yet. Chamber Business After Hours events occur once a month and have helped business owners better support one another, Granroth said.
David Boulton, owner of Flowers By George at 335 N. Olympic Ave., participates along with other Arlington business owners in Super Saturdays, where customers receive discounts on purchases made on the first Saturday of every month. He and others have blue doormats they put outside to encourage people to shop small. His doormat will definitely be out on Nov. 30, Boulton said.
“It’s our tax dollars staying in the community,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it, and I’m hoping it will be a good Saturday.”
Boulton, who is a second-generation owner of his business, promoted last year’s Small Business Saturday through the Flowers By George Facebook page. He’s noticed TV ads promoting the day this year, and believes those will help to generate more interest in the event.
“I don’t remember the TV ads last year, and I’m just impressed by them,” Boulton said. “I love the idea and mindset of people doing the big-box store shopping on Friday, getting that part out of their system, and coming downtown where they can find a place to park, usually right out in front of our store … I just love the concept.”
Arlington Hardware and Lumber at 215 N. Olympic Ave. has offered Super Saturday discounts for the past 25 years, according to owner Taylor Jones. Repeat customers look forward to those busy and fun Saturdays, he said. Small Business Saturday is another day of the year to show support, Jones added.
“Any time they try to get something going for downtown small businesses, I’m supportive of that,” he said. “I want to see downtown Arlington thrive.”
Small Business Saturday might make a difference, but a large part of what has made Wagner Jewelers at 9611 State Ave. in Marysville successful is quality customer service, according to owner Doug Wagner.
“If you’re in independent jeweler you don’t have the money for advertising, so you’ve got to build the business on customer relationships,” he said. “Basically, we get advertising by word of mouth. That’s how this business was built, and that’s how it will continue to be successful.”
While a one-day push for shopping small will resonate, one-day events often fade as quickly as they come, Rogers noted. That’s why the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce is working on the final touches to an upcoming launch of the next Buy Local campaign. A part of the campaign is planned through newspaper ads to educate people about how local dollars are used.
“The new innovations developed over the last few months will produce even greater success for businesses of all sizes,” Rogers said. “We will grow our local economy.”
A festive evening of performance and visual art, film & music by local contemporary and traditional, emerging to master Native artists. Friday, December 6, 2013 6-10pm
6:00 PM Reception & Artists Marketplace
7:00 PM Traditional Meal and Program
