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Kachinas

     The Hopi Indians have lived in the same area of the Southwest since before the time of Columbus. They lived in what is now Arizona. They lived on desert land at the foot of the mesas.

     The Hopi Indians believed in many gods. In the Hopi religion, everything in the world has two forms: the visible object and the spirit form. The Hopi used Kachinas to talk to their gods. . Kachina dolls are reincarnations of the spirit form returned from the clouds. The men of the Hopi tribe have more contact with the supernatural world than the women. "Tihu", or dolls in the Anglicized form, are given by the men who impersonate kachinas to women in their family in order to increase their connection to the spiritual world. Tihu are definitely not playthings, but are a part of the spirit of the kachina. When given to children, Kachina dolls are a part of their religious training.

     Kachinas were Hopi spirits or gods which lived within the mountains. Hopi dancers would dress like Kachinas to represent, or stand for, the gods. Wooden Kachina dolls were made to teach the children about the gods. The Hopi believed the Kachina costume gave magic power to the man who wore it. They felt a man needed magic to talk to the gods. Hopi Kachinas talked to the gods by singing and dancing.

     In order to carve a Katsina, a Hopi person must belong to a certain society and has earned the right to carve the doll. In fact unless one belongs to the Hopi society which allows Hopis to carve, anyone, even a Hopi who carves a so called Kachina doll who is not a member of the particular society is making a carving without the proper spiritual authority which renders that carving an evil thing tantamount to a voodoo doll.

     Just the mere word "Kachina" conjures up vivid images of masked figures dancing and chanting on ancient mesas. Well it should, because that is part of what a Kachina does. A Kachina is a God to the Hopi and Pueblo tribes. The Hopi have over 300 different Kachinas which are part of their daily culture. The actual "Gods" are believed to live high atop the San Francisco peaks outside of Flagstaff, Arizona, and near the Hopi Reservation. Each God has a job to do and a lesson to teach. The Kachinas arrive at the Hopi mesas in February in the form of a Hopi man dressed in traditional attire to represent a certain Kachina. The arrival of the Kachinas in February for Powamu or the Bean Dance starts the cycle of Kachina appearances. They appear regularly through harvest time in the fall ending with the Niman Dance or Home Dance, whence the Kachinas return to their ancestral home on the San Francisco peaks.

     In actuality, there are three "forms" of kachinas; first there are the mystical deities who reside high upon the San Francisco peaks. Second, there are the masked dancers and performers who are actually men of the tribe portraying their Gods in their ceremonies, and third there are kachina dolls or carvings. These were originally carved to be passed on to the children by a kachina during a ceremony as a remembrance and teaching aid. Each Kachina has an important role in the daily lives of the Pueblo people. Ogres teach discipline, Chief Kachinas teach wisdom and have powers comparable to that of a religious elder. There are Kachina women, who with the exception of only one Kachina, the Pachavuin Mana, are portrayed strictly by the men of the villages. The "women" teach values such as a mother would. There are cloud spirits called Shalakos who bring rain. There are also clown Kachinas whose primary function is one of amusement during pauses in Kachina dancing or as leavening for the seriousness of a major ceremony. "Borrowed" Kachinas are deities which have traveled from one Pueblo to another at an earlier date and have since been "adopted" by that Pueblo.

     As mentioned earlier, the Kachina "doll" was originally carved as a gift and learning tool for the child to learn about its many Gods. Today they are highly sought after sculptures in wood, but are still carved traditionally by hand, out of cottonwood root, and painted with earth tone colors as well as rainbow hues. The early Kachinas were quite simple in appearance, entirely of wood, with simple or little adornment. The 1950's through the 1980's brought changes in appearances with feathers, fur, shells, leather, yarn etc. being popular accents.