Zuni Pueblo Kumanshi Domda (Comanche Speaking Person) Doll [SOLD]

“The Kumanshi Dance can be either a performance given in the Winter Series by the young men who like fancy dances or a quasi-religious dance performed by unmasked young men and women dressed in a similar fashion.  The kachina dance given in the Winter Series was considered by (Ruth) Bunzel to be relatively new in 1915 when descriptions for that time period were acquired from A. L. Kroeber.  The impersonation is that of a Comanche warrior and is often lumped with the Sioux as a Sioux Buffalo Dance, although it is quite distinct with the fully feathered war bonnet.  The Kumanshi dancers appear in elaborately variegated costumes with little variation in the headdress.”  Wright 1985

There are several variations of the Kumanshi.  There is the Kumanshi Okya who accompany the group of dancers, the Kumanshi Peyenakwe, and then the Kumanshi Domda—Comanche Speaking Person—as a leader and side dancer who conducts them into the plaza where he dances apart and more vigorously than the others, urging them on to greater efforts.  We have selected this doll to be the Kumanshi Domda based on pictures in Barton Wright’s Kachinas of the Zuni book.  The right arm articulates but the left one has been nailed in place.

Condition: good condition with some loss of wood on the upper legs.  The leather that represents feathers on the headdress are mussed up a little but are all still in place.

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from Ohio

Recommended Reading: Kachinas of the Zuni by Barton Wright with original paintings by Duane Dishta.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery