Native American Indian Hopi Kachina Dolls by Harold Colton

Table of Contents

A Hopi Indian will tell you that a kachina is a supernatural being who is impersonated by a man wearing a mask. Small wooden dolls carved in the likenesses of the various kachinas are used to help teach Hopi children the tribal religion and traditions. Each child receives a doll made especially for him by his male relatives. He treasures the doll and studies it so that he can learn to recognize and respect the host of spirit kachinas that people the Hopi world.

Kachinas are difficult to classify because different Hopi pueblos have different ideas about their appearance and their functions. The late Dr. Harold S. Colton identified 266 different kinds of kachina dolls, and in this book he describes the meaning, the making, and the principal features of all of them. Each type of doll is pictured in a simplified line drawing. There is also an illustrated key to help the collector identify the various types.ACCLAIM:

"After even a cursory glance at the book you will yearn for a kachina of your own." --Midwestern Banker

"Collectors and museum curators will welcome the revised edition of this book. It remains the best single listing of Kachintihu available." --American Anthropologist

"Of prime importance to collectors and all others wishing to distinguish the genuine Hopi work from the spurious dolls." --The Book Exchange

"The most comprehensive study to date on the Indian deities." --El Paso Times