There is a clear relationship between the deities and the kachina dolls, the latter representing aspects of the former. Hopi katsinam can be male or female, and represent plants, animals, insects, human qualities, the creative force of the sun, and even death. Some are demons who frighten children into behaving properly; most are clan ancestors and beneficent beings. They are messengers who accept Hopi gifts and prayers for health, fertility, and rain and carry them back to the gods. Their role as rainmakers is particularly important to the Hopi. The deities are present, either in the statues, or the sacred
masks. Unlike the dolls, the masks are sacred objects and the Hopi have successfully petitioned to remove them from museum displays. The katsinam is and
can therefore be a spirit of any kind – very much on par with the ever growing list of Catholic saints that can be implored. The masks could be compared to the Christian holy relics. But just like Roman Catholic statues, no sacred power is invested in the kachina doll.
41
Unlike Roman Catholic statues, the kachina dolls are not used in ceremonies, nor are they preserved in the kiva. They are simply … dolls, so that children play with them and learn how to interact with the various spirits and otherworldly entities that are part of the tribe’ s daily life. There are nevertheless sacred statues preserved in the kiva, known as wu’ ya or tiponi. The wu’ ya is a clan deity, and a tiponi is a fetish of stone or wood, representing the deity. Unlike the kachina dolls, these are seldom brought out in to the open, their use normally reserved for ritual use inside the kiva.
There is a clear relationship between the deities and the kachina dolls, the latter representing aspects of the former. Hopi katsinam can be male or female, and represent plants, animals, insects, human qualities, the creative force of the sun, and even death. Some are demons who frighten children into behaving properly; most are clan ancestors and beneficent beings. They are messengers who accept Hopi gifts and prayers for health, fertility, and rain and carry them back to the gods. Their role as rainmakers is particularly important to the Hopi. The deities are present, either in the statues, or the sacred
masks. Unlike the dolls, the masks are sacred objects and the Hopi have successfully petitioned to remove them from museum displays. The katsinam is and
can therefore be a spirit of any kind – very much on par with the ever growing list of Catholic saints that can be implored. The masks could be compared to the Christian holy relics. But just like Roman Catholic statues, no sacred power is invested in the kachina doll.
41
Unlike Roman Catholic statues, the kachina dolls are not used in ceremonies, nor are they preserved in the kiva. They are simply … dolls, so that children play with them and learn how to interact with the various spirits and otherworldly entities that are part of the tribe’ s daily life. There are nevertheless sacred statues preserved in the kiva, known as wu’ ya or tiponi. The wu’ ya is a clan deity, and a tiponi is a fetish of stone or wood, representing the deity. Unlike the kachina dolls, these are seldom brought out in to the open, their use normally reserved for ritual use inside the kiva.