The Kachinas Are Coming

Fest Parade begins as the Katsinam emerge from the kiva.

By Ron Pecina and Isabella Pecina. Art by Neil David Sr.

The Pueblo people live along the Rio Grande Valley, the Zuni region to the southwest, and on the Hopi Mesas, the desolate extremes of Black Mesa, in Arizona. Without a written language, the history and traditions of the Pueblo people were passed to succeeding generations through oral recitations from clan elders and priests, and through the sacred dances and Katsina rituals. The first journals about the pueblo dwellers were written by Christian missionaries accompanying the intruding Spanish Conquistadors who entered the region in 1540. Unfortunately, these first observations of life of the people were biased in favor of Spanish Catholicism and European culture. Pueblo ceremonies, religious beliefs, and Katsina dances were looked on with disapproval as they contradicted Christian doctrine.

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, ethnologists Alexander Stephen, Jesse Fewkes, and Heinrich Voth became the first to carefully document the religious ceremonies and Katsina dances of the Hopi Indians. However, a very limited pictorial account of these events was included. Since the opening decades of the twentieth century photographing the Katsinam and Katsina ceremonies has been forbidden. Paintings and drawings by Hopi artists, prominent among them Fred Kabotie, Raymond Naha, and Neil David Sr., document some of the rarely performed Katsina dances as well as some of the socially important outdoor celebrations of the Hopi.

Katsinam, the plural of Katsina (although in general the public says Katsinas), are the Hopis’ Spirit Beings and Messengers of the gods impersonated in performances. Since the Katsina dances are generally closed to outsiders, understanding of the Katsinam is gained primarily from books, paintings, and carvings of kachina dolls. Over 400 Katsinam have been identified; some appear on a regular basis each year, others possibly once in a generation, while some are near forgotten. Traditionally, kachina dolls, or tithu, are given to the Hopi girls by the Katsinam during the celebrations. Examples of these carvings are seen in museums and are in demand by collectors and tourists. Kachina carvings have become a fine art form and have been a source of income for many Hopi artisans. Exhibits of Hopi arts in art galleries and art and crafts markets offer an excellent opportunity to acquaint us with and extend our understanding of the Katsinam and their role in traditional pueblo life.

The Katsina season is rich with ceremonies and dances. It begins in December as winter approaches. Two major multiday celebrations are the Bean Dance, or Powamu, which takes place in late winter, and the Home Dance, or Niman, which closes the annual Katsinam visit to the Hopi in July. Following the Powamu, is the Drama of the Ogres, a disciplinary ritual focused on the children. Then the colorful and more positive parade of Katsinam called the Fest Parade, a village-wide parade of a multitude of Katsinam takes place at the time of kiva Night Dances.

FEST PARADE

Following the Powamu and in preparation for the planting season, there are purification rituals held in the kivas. The kiva Night Dances are preceded by the Fest Parade where a large number and great variety of Hopi Katsinam parade throughout the villages. Katsinam emerge from the kiva (image on opposite page) and move towards the plaza where the visiting audience is gathered. The sounds of the approaching Katsinam echo through the narrow street from the far side of the plaza. Distant voices, hooting, and the sounds of dance rattles, turtle shells, and bells bring a spectator’s call: “the Katsinas are coming!” As the sounds grow louder, but before the Katsinam come in view, the young boys, still uninitiated in Katsina society, run home to hide. Having recently experienced a staged ceremony where the Ogre Katsinam declared that work and good behavior would protect the children from being taken away, it is no wonder that they would flee from a further encounter.

The tranquil scene of the plaza rimmed with spectators changes when the Katsinam appear. They move in small groups throughout the plaza and then continue on their route through the village. Whipper Katsinam select audience members and give them several lashes with yucca fonds as a blessing. When the paraders complete their village circuit, they return to their kivas. After a rest period they will appear for another parade. Festivities continue with open-house feasts while the kivas are being prepared for the set of kiva Night Dances which will be presented by each kiva and performed throughout the night in all nine kivas.

COMANCHE DANCE

As the weather warms, the Katsina dances are held outdoors in the plaza. Sponsors of a dance select the Katsinam that will dance. Among the variety of dances which may be performed are those honoring one of the Hopis’ neighboring tribes. The Hopis assume the role and perform as a group of Comanche, Supai, Navajo, Zuni, or one of the Eastern Pueblo tribes. In the Comanche Dance, the performers carry traditional warrior paraphernalia. Their headdresses include feathers of the Red-tailed Hawk, and they carry woven replicas of war shields in their left hand. Directing the dancers, the Katsina Father is between the first and second dancers. To his right, the Comanche leader wears his full war bonnet. Three Koshari circle the dance group sprinkling them with sacred corn meal. They help coordinate the dance and remind all present—the celebration is to think rain throughout this festive occasion.

SCALP DANCE

Hopi outdoor ceremonies abound and continue along with the annual cycle of the appearance of the Katsinam. One celebration (image on top of page 13), which is not a Katsina ceremony, is the Scalp Dance. The Scalp Dance was performed in many the of the pueblos. Warriors returning from battle carried trophies of scalps and sang of their bravery and conquests. Waiting and thankful for the safe return of the war parties, their women greeted the warriors with celebrations. Scalp dances held at some pueblos were part of the initiation into a war society. Women carried the scalps in the victory dance, and then served as custodians of the scalps throughout the year.

By the end of the nineteenth century scalp taking organizations had ceased to function, scalp taking was abolished, and the ceremony has taken on a different meaning in the dramatization of the battles and victory celebration of the returning warriors. On the Hopis’ First Mesa, the Scalp Dance is a celebration performed as a memorial to Hopi/Tewa warriors who have fought to defend their people.

Hopi Scalp Dance as performed in 2017.

According to the dance’s origins, in Hopi legends, a child was abducted during one of the many Ute Indian raids on First Mesa. A retaliatory war party was formed and recovered the child, as well as the scalps of the Ute chief and his wife. Spider Woman warned the Hopi that the Utes would try to recapture the child. This caused more battles which the Hopi won. The Scalp Dance appeared as a victory celebration, although modern ceremonies have taken on added meaning.

Today, the dance centers on unmasked couples made up of Hopi matrons (rather than the maidens who usually appear in the social dances) and their victorious male relatives. The songs sung during the dance focus on the unification of the peaceful Hopi and the Tewa people who joined together at Walpi and assisted in fighting Ute, Comanche, and Navajo raiders. Typically, two couples will dance. Each dance has 3 songs with 5 phases in each song; a dance may last up to 25 minutes. The celebration may continue into a second day since as many as thirty groups or more may dance.

In this article we have selected a festive parade of Katsinam, a Katsina dance, and a sacred warrior ritual to give a visual-image sampling of the numerous and striking Hopi ceremonies. Many have been documented in exacting detail in the journals of the ethnologist who studied the Hopi culture in the late nineteenth century, but only a fraction of these studies included drawings or photographs. Since many of the Hopi ceremonies are closed to outsiders and taking photographs has not been allowed in over a century, paintings provide the only visual record we have in support of the narratives. Production and performance of Hopi celebrations has relied on the creative talents of the performers and producers supported with information from Hopi elders to preserve the traditional ceremony with its intended messages. Most important—for the Hopis, the Katsina ceremonies, sacred rituals, and social festivities are a vital unifying force in keeping alive the Hopi way of life.

References: Pecina, R. and Pecina, B. Hopi Kachinas, History, Legends, and Art; Schiffer Publishing Titiev, M. Old Oraibi; University of New Mexico Press Wright, B. Kachinas, A Hopi Artist’s Documentary; Northland Press