Jimmie Koots Hopi Pueblo Seated Heheya Katsina Doll [SOLD]

This extraordinary portrayal of a Hopi Heheya Katsina is undoubtedly by the most famous Hopi carver Jimmy Koots.  It has his hallmark grayish/white base slip.  He is pictured with the traditional oversized nose, and markings on his cheeks, however, those are not in the standard colorful way but in white on a black face.  All of Koots’ Heheya are black face ones.  The eyes and mouth, in deformed shape, are as usually presented.  He is dressed in a fur covering over his body and head, and has a feather pointing upward from the top of his nose.

This carving is an excellent representation of one of the varieties of Heheya, as they differ at each of the mesas.  This one is a side dancer for the Kuwan Heheya and not the one that is part of the So'yoko group. 

This carving by James Kootshongsie (1916-1996) Jimmie Koots well illustrates the fine craftsmanship he evidenced over his career.  He was born at Hopi Pueblo in the Third Mesa village of Hotevilla during the period of World War I.  At a very young age, he and many other Hopi children were removed from their homes and taken to government schools where they were to be assimilated into the White man's culture while being stripped of their Hopi beliefs and heritage.  Koots survived the five long years at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school and then returned to his native village.

At age 22, Koots was again taken away from his native village and sent off to the Pacific to fight in World War II.  Following this war, he once again returned to the village of Hotevilla.  It was then that he discovered that the big oil companies and the government were colluding to remove the Hopi from their reservation because of the wealth of mineral resources—coal, gas, oil, and Uranium.  He became an activist against strip mining and the big corporations.  Because of his and many other's efforts the Hopi retained their native land.

Jimmy Koots was among a group of Hopi who revived the ancient art of traditional Hopi katsina carvings.  He was immensely popular in the 1960s and 1970s as a katsina doll carver.  His dolls were mostly sold in Santa Fe at a downtown shop called Rare Things by Dutton, a business that is now closed but was very active in the 1960s-1980s.  His carvings, although not signed, are so distinctive in appearance that they can be easily identified as his work.  This carving, as usual, is not signed with the name of the carver but it is without question the work of Jimmy Koots and was probably carved in the 1960s.

What is a Kachina?

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Jimmie Koots Hopi Pueblo Seated Heheya Katsina Doll is from the collection of a gentleman from California

Reference: KACHINAS A Hopi Artist's Documentary by Barton Wright

Relative Links: Katsina Dolls, Hopi Pueblo, Hopi Kachina Dolls