Hopi Tribe Hopi Tribe

Hopi Tribe

In 2013, GRoW founder Gregory Annenberg Weingarten intervened in a French auction and purchased sacred Native American objects with the sole purpose of repatriating them to their rightful owners.

Returning Sacred Objects to Native American Tribes 

Hopi Tribe

In 2013, more than 100 sacred Native American objects were set to be sold at a Paris auction house, including 24 objects belonging to the Hopi tribe in Arizona and three objects belonging to the Apache tribe in New Mexico and Arizona. Both tribes, as well as the U.S. Embassy in France, argued that the sacred objects — which they regarded as living entities with divine spirits, rather than artifacts for display — had been illegally obtained and the auction house had no authority to sell them. However, their legal efforts were foiled when the French courts ruled against the tribes, determining that the sellers had legally obtained the objects and therefore had the right to auction them off to the highest bidder.

While living in Paris, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten followed the case and after learning the unfortunate outcome, he worked with the Annenberg Foundation staff in Los Angeles on a creative and clandestine intervention. He directed staff members to anonymously enter the auction and place bids over the phone. By the final gavel pounding, Gregory had purchased 24 out of the 27 items for a sum of $530,000.

After the auction, Gregory repatriated all 24 objects to the Hopi and Apache tribes, who had been unaware of the Annenberg Foundation's role in the auction. This act of stealth philanthropy encouraged other individuals to repatriate objects that they had purchased in auctions, which led to a broader awareness and discussion of Native American artifacts that are often wrongly acquired and sold.

In 2016, Gregory traveled to Arizona to meet with members of the Hopi tribe and to learn more about the spiritual and cultural significance of the repatriated items. Later that year, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian awarded Gregory the Innovative Partnership in Repatriation Award in recognition of this work.

GRoW Support

2020

Hopi Health Care Center 

Pandemic Emergency Relief Fund

2013

Repatriation of Sacred Objects

Hopi Tribe

Repatriation by Gregory Annenberg Weingarten

The Rachel Maddow Show (12/19/13)