UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, April 1, 1997
5
Carrie Desandro / KANSAN
A collection of katsina dolls, which Hopl Indians give to their daughters to teach them about spirits, are on display until Aug. 17 at the Museum of Anthropology. The colorful dolls represent more than 300 spirits.
Hopi spirit dolls displayed at anthropology museum
Figures are symbols of spiritual beings
By Andrew Humphrey Special to the Kansan
An exhibit of these katsina dolls is on display until Aug. 17 at the Museum of Anthropology.
Between the winter and summer solstices, the Hopi Indians believe they are visited by spiritual beings, the katsinas. The Hopis, who live on a reservation in northern Arizona, fashion colorful figures of these spirits to give to their daughters so the girls can learn the different characteristics of the more than 300 different katsina spirits.
The exhibit features 85 dolls, which vary in height from 3 to 18 inches. The dolls are made from sections of cottonwood roots painted and decorated with a variety of materials, including feathers, yarn, cloth and leather. The dolls come from the museum's collection of about 150 dolls.
The collection was purchased through the years by alumni, said Alfred Johnson, director of the museum and co-curator of the
exhibit. "People keep them at home awhile and then give them to the University. And we have been able, through these donations, to eventually end up with a really wonderful collection."
Only one doll was purchased for the exhibit. It was made using the modern katsina doll-carving technique.
"The earlier ones are all assembled from pieces that have been individually carved and glued and stuck together," Johnson said.
But more often dolls are being sculpted entirely from a single piece of wood.
"One of the reasons for this is that a lot of the birds and animals that they were using are on the endangered species list, so they can't use those parts anymore," Johnson said. "So what they do now is just carve the entire figure out of wood, including the feathers and all of the gear and equipment."
While some dolls can cost as much as $10,000, the doll the museum purchased cost $1,000.
Johnson said not all of the dolls were displayed because of a lack of space. Those that are displayed are arranged according to the time during a six-month period when the spirits they represent appear.
During the six-month period, several dances take place. The men in the Hopi villages wear masks and costumes that make them appear like the katsina spirits. They believe that when they are in costume, they become inhabited by the spirits. The dances serve as a form of prayer. They take place so that the katsina spirits will take the Hopi's prayers for precipitation to the gods.
"What we try to do is provide some contextual information so that not only can you enjoy looking at the woodcarvings of the dolls themselves, but you get a feeling for where they fit into Hopi culture and their meaning," Johnson said.
Lori Santos, Haysville graduate student and co-curator of the exhibit, agreed.
"I think the important thing about this exhibit is that you get an idea of how katsina dolls function within the ceremony," Santos said. "It places them within the cultural context."
Carol Elk, Tulsa, Okla., sophomore, said she was impressed with the exhibit.
"It's very colorful," she said. "It's really well-done. I like how they show how the dolls have evolved over the ages."
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