Hopi Nataska Ogre Katsina Doll [SOLD]

Emil Pooley was a well-known carver around the Albuquerque area as he demonstrated annually at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds for years and years. After his marriage, he and his wife moved from Hotevilla Village on the Hopi Reservation, first to Winslow, AZ, then to Joseph City, AZ where they spent their remaining years. He opened a trading post in Joseph City on the old Route 66 in 1949 and continued carving katsina dolls and selling them at his post.

One of his favored carvings was that of Nataska, the feared Ogre of the Hopi. During the process of collecting food from Hopi homes for distribution to the Katsinas in the kivas, the Nataskas make horrible noises to scare the children. From the earliest ages, Hopi children have heard stories about how the Nataskas would abduct children and eat them, so it is no wonder that they are terrified of them. The parent or parents bargain with the Nataskas to leave the children alone and the Nataskas agree, thus the parent is the hero and the children are saved.

Provenance: From the personal collection of Frances Balcomb, owner of Balcomb