kachina

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Drawings of kachina dolls, from an 1894 anthropology book.

Kachina dolls in the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.

A metal statue signifying a kachina dancer at the Carefree Resort in Carefree, Arizona, US.

A kachina (also katchina or katcina, pronounced /kəˈtʃiːnə/; occasionally katsina /kətˈsiːnə/, plural katsinim /kətˈsiːnɨm/; Hopi: qacína) is a spirit being in western Pueblo cosmology and religious practices.^[1] The western Pueblo, Native American cultures located in the southwestern United States, include Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Village (on the Hopi Reservation), Acoma Pueblo, and Laguna Pueblo. In later times, the kachina cult have spread to more eastern Pueblos, e.g. from Laguna to Isleta. The term also refers to the kachina dancers, masked members of the tribe who impersonate kachinas in religious ceremonies, and kachina dolls, wooden dolls representing kachinas which are given as gifts to children.

In Hopi, the word qatsina means literally "life bringer",^{[dubious – discuss]} and can be anything that exists in the natural world or cosmos. A kachina can represent anything from a revered ancestor, to an element, a location, a quality, a natural phenomenon, or a concept. There are more than 400 different kachinas in Hopi and Pueblo culture. The local pantheon of kachinas varies in each pueblo community; there may be kachinas for the sun, stars, thunderstorms, wind, corn, insects, and many other concepts. Kachinas are understood as having humanlike relationships; they may have uncles, sisters, and grandmothers, and may marry and have children. Although not worshipped, each is viewed as a powerful being who, if given veneration and respect, can use their particular power for human good, bringing rainfall, healing, fertility, or protection, for example.

Origins

This section requires expansion.

• Kachina was the most widespread and practiced religion by the Pueblos two hundred years or so before the Spaniards came to the West.

Zuni kachinas

The Zuni believe that the kachinas live in the Lake of the Dead, a mythical lake which is reached through Listening Spring Lake located at the junction of the Zuni River and the Little Colorado River.

Hopi kachinas

Within Hopi mythology, the kachinas are said to live on the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona. The most important Hopi kachinas are called wuya.

Among the Hopi, kachina dolls are traditionally carved by the uncles and given to uninitiated girls at the Bean Dance (Spring Bean Planting Ceremony) and Home Dance Ceremony in the summer. The function of the dolls is to acquaint children with some of the many kachinas.

In Hopi the word is often used to represent the spiritual beings themselves, the dolls, and the people who dress as kachinas for ceremonial dances, which are understood to all embody aspects of the same belief system. Among other uses, the kachinas represent historical events and things in nature, and are used to educate children in the ways of life.

Wuya

The most important of the kachinim are known as wuya. These are some of the wuyas:

See also

• Awelo

Notes

References

External links

• Media related to Kachina dolls at Wikimedia Commons