Kachina Doll
Hopi, Arizona
For the Hopi, the kachinas represent the sun, earth, wind, rain, and other forces of nature. Depicted by ceremonial dancers, the kachinas live in the Hopi pueblos of northeastern Arizona half of the year before returning to their homes in the San Francisco Mountains. The dancers give kachina dolls as gifts to children of the pueblos.
In recent years, they also have been made for sale. This kachina doll is associated with the Powamu, the Hopi ceremony during which the world is readied for the new season of growth and children are instructed and prepared for the growing season.
ca. 1900, wood, pigments, cotton string
National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center, Nicolai Fechin Collection, acc. 82.25.11
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