Hopi Huhuwa (Cross Legged) Large Katsina Doll [SOLD]

Barton Wright lists the Huhuwa Katsina in his book Clowns of the Hopi but states that he technically is not a clown but is revered so much because of his legacy.  Folklore has it that this katsina is the spirit of a man from Second Mesa who had some crippling disease that left him barely able to walk.  Despite this handicap, he was so cheerful and eager to help others that he still continues among the Hopi as a katsina.  He often appears as a pair of katsinas hobbling about some village during a ceremony chattering between them.

Huhuwa is probably chosen more often as a gift-giving katsina at Powamu times than any other katsina, according to Wright.   He is noted for his remarks which are always humorous.  He imitates the dialects of the various villages and the funny things the villagers have done.  His clothes are always ragged and give the appearance of having been rescued from the moths in some Hopi storeroom. 

Barton Wright classified the Hopi clowns into categories into which he felt they would best blend.  He put Huhuwa in the group called Comic Kachinas with Kokopelli, Kokopell’mana, Mastop, Qöqöle, and others.  This says he is a funny katsina but not a ribald one like the Koshari.

This carving appears to be from a single log with the arms added.  It is covered in the kaolin-like paint that Jimmy Koots regularly used with design painted in black.  The doll has red lips, wool hair, simulated turquoise earrings and a squash blossom on his forehead.  He is reaching out with his right hand.  A stand has been fabricated for secure display.

Condition: very good condition. 

Provenance: from the estate of Tom Mittler, a former resident of Michigan and Santa Fe who purchased it from Marti Struever in 1986

Referenced material: Hopi Katsina 1,600 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf