Unbelievable – what it all has become. Art depicts life and now art has shown what have become of values and the challenges, we as conscious people face.

“These artifacts are no longer sacred…they are Art.” – Gilles Néret-Minet, French Auctioneer at auction.

April 12, 2013 – French Court Allows Auction of American Indian Artifacts (Hopi)

It is hard to hold onto faith and what we know as Hopi people when a statement like that is so biting, but we as Hopi people have seen what power comes from the katsinam and everything we do. For all people, even the people that don’t know and don’t believe. We have been praying through it all and the power has always been beyond our comprehension, but unfolded before our eyes.

Consistently through the centuries, before there were organized governments and monetary value systems to chip away at us, our faith and our way of life has prevailed. Our grandparents have witnessed their own challenges through the age of boarding schools, famine and attacks of assimilation. Through faith and steadfast keeping to our way of life, they kept going and continuing on. In reflection, I look back to how adamantly they would teach us.

“No matter what, – pray, get up, do what you are supposed to, remember life here, remember you are Hopi and what goes on out there, this is where life is. “

Today, I realize that token of knowledge was for times like now, when anger and hurt seeps into my heart. When I think of all the words my grandparents ever said to me, it feels as if they could see the future, they knew exactly what I would need to make it through this life and these times. They would say, “Wait, you will see.”

This recent auction, as awful and sacrilegious as it is, I wonder what we will see come of this. It’s hard to be forgiving and keep a good heart, but our way of life has never left us out in the cold. I pray that this will strengthen us as a people, as individuals and remind us of who we are and how delicately beautiful our way of life is. It is worth protecting and fighting for where ever we may be.

What I found amazing in all this, is that today there is a Hopi somewhere representing us. All over, in every part of the world serving their people, their country and educating themselves.

When I pray, I pray that our Angwusnsomtaka watches over the Hopis that way and like her will return home safely one day.

It is hard to reflect on today’s events and be strong but this is where I am grateful because I am returned to faith and prayer. Tawa knows what is our story and the purpose, so that is where I will look. To Life, To Faith, until I am old and grey and to the next.