Delbridge Honanie Painting “The Corn People”

This painting (dated 1975) by Delbridge Honanie is acrylic on canvas with impasto technique of applying paint thickly in parts of the design.  It is signed vertically in lower right with his Hopi name Coochsiwukioma and dated 1975.  There are eight Corn People and what may be a Mudhead carrying a watermelon.  In the lower left is a group of fish.  True to form for the members of Artist Hopid, the painting was executed in bright colors.

The central brown figure with an object suggests Pokanghoya, one of the Twin War Gods There are 9 wavy corn figures in the background, and 5 animal heads in the foreground. 

Honanie was born in 1946 in Winslow, Arizona.  He grew up at the Second Mesa village of Shungopavi, went to the Phoenix Indian Day School in the 1960s and then to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, where he studied under the tutelage of Otellie Loloma, from which he graduated in 1970.  He is Bear Clan and was initiated into the Men's Society where he received his Hopi name, Coochsiwukioma, which means Falling White Snow.  Honanie was named an Arizona Indian Living Treasure in 2006.

Delbridge Honanie, Hopi Pueblo, (1946-2017) Coochsiwukioma - Falling White Snow was a member of Artist Hopid, a group of Hopi artists who banded to work to educate the public to the values and identity of the Hopi people through various art media.  Other members of Artist Hopid were Terrance Talaswaima, Milland Lomakema, Michael Kabotie,  and Neil David, Sr.  The artists of this group are best known for paintings using vibrant colors inspired by murals from Hopi prehistoric sites.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: this Delbridge Honanie Painting "The Corn People" is from a client of Adobe Gallery. Displayed in Special Exhibit: Ancestral Symbols, Modern Masterpieces: Documenting the Sacred Narratives and History of the Hopi People at Adobe Gallery for its 50th Anniversary Celebration Santa Fe, NM, May 2026.

Reference: Broder, Patricia Janis. Hopi Painting: The World of the Hopis, Brandywine Press, New York. 1978

TAGS: Hopi Pueblo, Santa Fe, Otellie Loloma, Terrance Talaswaima, Michael Kabotie, Neil David, Sr., Native American Paintings, Katsina Dolls, Delbridge Honanie