Southwestern Souvenirs

Regardless of the medium involved, much Indian art possesses a rich vein of humor. The Hopi , like their fellow Indian survivors, have a wry attitude toward their culture and how it interacts with the dominant, mainstream society. As a result, some of their art works celebrate with whimsical, dry, or ironic portrayals, from a small finger ring to a figure carved from a cottonwood root. The katsina exhibition at the Heard abounds in such examples.

An Easter Rabbit effigy in the Hopi Katsina exhibit in the Heard Museum.

Figures which do not represent one of the many and diverse katsina spirits are known as effigies. These can range from comic renditions of neighboring tribes to humorous interpretations of the trickster in animal form. Should you run across an artist selling such wares at one of the Indian arts markets, take a good long look. You will walk away smiling.

Some collectors prize Indian arts that are more vintage in age. Old, authentic katsina carvings have pride of place in many museums, like the Heard Museum, Museum of Northern Arizona, etc. In 1969 Barry Goldwater, politician and unsuccessful candidate for U.S. president, gave his remarkable collection to the Heard Museum. Katsina carvings were generally made as gifts to Hopi children; contemporary carvings are now largely made for the art market, and many non-Native men are enthusiastic collectors.

Two cradleboard katsinas.

Cradleboard katsinas were meant for the purpose described. These carvings were flat in nature and brightly painted. Such carvings made between 1930 and 1970 have collectors of their own. The two shown here come from John C. Hill Antique Indian Arts in Scottsdale; he stocks older and vintage freestanding and cradleboard figures. Confused between the terms “kachina” and “katsina”? The latter is the preferred Hopi spelling, but you will find the former spelling in most books. Rather like Anasazi versus Ancestral Puebloans…