Kachina Dolls

KACHINA DOLLS
BY W. BEN HUNT
MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM
POPULAR SCIENCE HANDBOOK SERIES NO. 7 SEPTEMBER 1957
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ©1953 MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM
by ROBERT E. RITZENTHALER Curator of Anthropology
On the sentinel-like mesas in the semi-desert land of northeastern Arizona dwell some 3,500 of one of our most colorful Indian tribes of today, the Hopi. Living in their traditional adobe, multi-storied “apartment houses,” called “Pueblos,” they practice many of their old ways and customs, and remain one of the tribes least affected by the white man. Agriculturalists they were and agriculturalists they are, filling the fields at the base of the mesas, raising corn, beans, and squash, but above all, corn. In this area where land is good, but moisture is all-important, the Hopi have developed a religion much concerned with prayers and ceremonies to bring rain and good crops. During the Snake Dance, for example, snakes are held in the mouths of the dancers and then released into the desert as messengers to the gods to inform them that the Hopi need rain.
Less widely known to the world than the Snake Dance, but very important to the Hopi as a spiritual means of petitioning for rain, good weather, bountiful crops, and other blessings, is the Kachina cult. The Hopi believe that the Kachinas are a band of supernatural beings who live in the nearby mountains and pay visits to the villages at intervals during the first half of each year. At these times the men don the masks and costumes representing particular Kachinas, and perform dances and ceremonies in their honor. By wearing these costumes the men not only physically impersonate the Kachinas, but also assume their spirits. The dances and ceremonies take place both in the underground chambers, called kivas, where only men are allowed, and out on the village plazas where all may watch. During the latter, the dancers follow the leader in single file to the plaza where they line up facing east. The leader, at the center, begins the singing to the rhythm of his rattle; then the others join in, and the dancing begins. For the next song the dancers face north, then west, after which they distribute gifts, usually a bow and arrow for a boy and a Kachina doll for a girl. They then retire to a secluded area to unmask, relax, and prepare for the next set of songs and dances.