Hopi Cottonwood Avachhoya (Spotted Corn) Katsina Doll [R]

“Avachhoya or Qá-ö is the Spotted Corn Kachina who appears in the Pamuya and in the regular Kachina dances.  Generally this Corn Kachina dances with such a lively step that only the boys or young men will take the part.  They do not sing and are always accompanied by a drummer and chorus, usually Koyemsi.  Sometimes two of these kachinas will dance on the plaza by the side of the Niman Kachinas.  Holding nothing in their hands, they make motions and signs describing such figures as clouds or cornstalks or whatever is being sung about at the time.

“Probably no other kachina name has quite so many different forms grouped together.  It is apparently a generic term, at least nowadays, that covers a multitude of dancers whose function is to aid in the production of corn.  The old Hopi style of Avachhoya was a figure with rings painted upon the body and face and four crossed feathers upon the head.  This is probably the closest approach to the written descriptions of Avachhoya, and yet it is just as close to the Laguna Swaying Man.  It is a hybrid figure that any Hopi will call Avachhoya—one of the Corn Dancers.”  Wright 1973

This carving is completely from wood with no fabrics or feathers added.  Honyouti has carved the image in an active dance position, well illustrating the lively dance this katsina performs.  The doll stands on a pedestal with an elaborate corn plant displaying multi-colored corn, with the inset of a small turquoise cab.   It is signed L. Honyouti. 

Lauren, sometimes seen as Loren, is the middle of five Honyouti brothers, all the sons of Clyde Honyouti.  Two of Lauren’s brothers, Ronald and Brian, are also exceptional katsina doll carvers.  Lauren lived for many years in Phoenix where he worked for the utility company.  He now lives on the reservation and is involved with community ceremonial activities as well as carving dolls.

Condition: original condition

Provenance:  from the collection of an Albuquerque source

Recommended Reading: Hopi Katsina 1600 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf

                                                Following the Sun and Moon by Alph Secakuku