Zuni Pueblo Atoshle (Ogre) Katsina Doll [SOLD]

“The Atoshle were horrid beings who lived in the caves . . . among the rocks north of Zuni.  They were killed by the Two Little War Gods and, afterwards . . . became the Atoshle kachinas.  There are six of these Atoshle, who may come to visit Zuni with their wives, but they will always return to the Sacred Lake.  Occasionally, one of them will light a fire on Corn Mountain and the next day come to visit the peach orchards to catch anyone eating unripe fruit or stealing someone else’s.  If Atoshle finds a thief, he empties the stolen fruit into his own basket and throws the empty sack in the top of a fruit tree.

“Long ago when the earth was soft, a Zuni boy, K-aiyuani, told the secrets of the kachinas and for . . . his punishment. . .several kachinas were selected for this duty, but Atoshle, who was considered, was rejected because he always talked too much and told everyone his business; he was also unfit because he was a cannibal who ate children.

“In January when Atoshle and his wife visit the children, he carries a large blood-stained knife, which he uses to sweep the hair back from his bulging eyes, leaving his hair smeared with blood.  His wife carries a basket on her back and a long crook for catching children.  The Koyemsi usually accompany them.  As they draw near a house, Atoshle rushes toward it and then withdraws and rushes again, striking the door with his knife on the fourth approach.  The inhabitants may beat drums or clang tin pans together in a futile effort to frighten him away.  Once inside, he berates the children in a chilling falsetto voice that can be heard throughout the village and often makes them perform the duties they have been avoiding.  The threat of being carried off in the basket to be eaten later is used with great effect, and, occasionally, Atoshle will add to this horror by pretending to bite one of the adults present.  The monsters are eventually bought off with meat from the household and are forced out, where they make their way to the next place as every youngster they meet rushes to hide.”  Wright 1985

This Atoshle doll carries a bloody knife in his right hand and a staff with a hook in his left. There are small sharp fangs on his snout and he has large bulging eyes. Grey hair wisps over his scary face.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from the collection of a family in Oregon to whom we sold this in 2004

Reference: Kachinas of the Zuni by Barton Wright.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery