Hopi Warrior Maiden Katsina Doll [SOLD]

“Hé-é-e or Hé’wuhti may be seen in Powamu celebrations most years, but it is at the Pachavu ceremonies that Hé-é-e is seen in her most impressive appearance.  This kachina is the Warrior Maid, based on the story of a young girl:

Many years ago, tradition says that some Hopis were living outside of the main village, and the mother of this household was putting up her daughter’s hair.  The mother had finished only one side of the hair whorls, the hair on the other side still hanging loosely, when they saw enemies sneaking toward the village.  The daughter snatched up a bow, quiver and arrows from the wall and raced toward the village to warn the people. She then led the defense until the men in the fields could return and rout the enemy.

“She has been personated ever since as a kachina and always appears with her hair partially up on one side and hanging down on the other.  On the back of her head she wears an artificial scalp lock, and she carries the weapons she snatched up so long ago. She still guards the village.  During Pachavu times she gives the signal that drives everyone indoors when certain ceremonies must be performed out in the open. And it is she who leads the horde of hooting, jangling, threatening kachinas along the line of procession into the village in the final moments of the ceremony of Pachavu.”  Wright 1973

Kevin Pochoema has only the restrictions of the shape and size of the cottonwood root when he sets out to carve an all-wood katsina doll.  In his mind he visualizes what that particular root can accommodate. He studies the wood and plans how to fit the doll he has in mind into the shape of the root.  If an arm of the doll is going to stick out from the body, what orientation does it have to be to stay within the boundary of the wood. He has a rule that the katsina, excluding some attachments, must be a single-piece carving, so the whole doll must fit within the boundary of the root.  Kevin has mastered the techniques of fitting a doll of his thoughts into the available wood.

In this carving of Hé-é-e, Kevin attached the rattle and bow in her hands and the quiver on her back.  Everything else is of the single piece carving. In the pedestal, he carved a cave dwelling.  The doll is signed on the top of the pedestal.

Most of the doll is stained dark brown but the inside of the cape is stained a lighter shade as illustrated with the folds over her arms.  The belt around her chest, to which is attached the quiver of arrows, is also stained lighter and trimmed in red. She wears a turquoise necklace, one turquoise earring and a *Ketoh on her left arm.

Condition: this Hopi Warrior Maiden Katsina Doll is in new condition

Provenance:  from the artist

Reference: Hopi Kachinas: The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls by Barton Wright

*Ketohs: arm bands for bow hunting usually made out of leather.

Kevin Pochoema (1965- ) artist photo by Adobe Gallery.