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This Silakafgoingtaka - Tewa Whipper Katsina Doll is a Tewa Katsina from First Mesa.  The Hopi name is Silakafgoingtaka and the Tewa name is Ga wong-ping.  He is considered a Tewa Whipper Katsina and is not a Hopi Katsina, although the Hopi have a name for it.  In other words, this is a Hopi Pueblo carving of a Tewa Katsina.

The sole purpose of this katsina is the initiation of the kids into the Tewa kivas, and he comes usually in pairs prior to the Bean Dance to conduct the initiation.  He appears in February to initiate the children who have come of age, and he appears four days prior to Bean Dance.

This katsina wears a sack-type face made from a net.  His ruff consists of dried corn husks, and he wears a hair roach made from wild flowers.  The illustration in the referenced book below does not have horns as shown on this doll, and this doll does not carry yucca whips in his hands as illustrated in the reference.  Perhaps there are variations in style at the different villages.

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