Hopi Pueblo Kisa Katsina, Prairie Falcon Katsina Doll [SOLD]

This carving of the Prairie Falcon katsina is small in size but powerful in appearance.  This appears to be a pre-World War II carving.   The Hopi name of the Prairie Falcon Katsina is Kisa.  Except for the beak, the carving is from a single piece of cottonwood root.  The paints predate acrylic paints of the 1950s and later.  The black lines on his face are warrior stripes.    

To quote from Barton Wright “The Prairie Falcon appears as a runner during the Soyohim dances of early spring.  It is believed that the kachina is a particularly rapid runner because the Prairie Falcon flies so rapidly.  Folktale has it that the Prairie Falcon brought the Hopi the first throwing stick which it modeled after the shape of its own wing.  Dolls of this kachina are not very common but have had a recent surge of popularity.”  Wright 1977: 92

“Birds have always played a very important part in Hopi ceremonies.  Their feathers decorate altars, kachinas, deities, and men.  Initiates into the Hopi tribe are called by the names of certain birds.  Birds assist the Hopi in many endeavors.  Myth has it that the strong birds of prey taught the Hopi many mysteries and helped them out of the Underworld.  These birds still offer advice and counsel to the Hopi and remain a strong link with the mythical earlier worlds and their spirit inhabitants.  Other birds are associated with water, such as the snipe, the heron or crane, and ducks.  These have a strong attraction for the Hopi because they stay where there is water.

“For centuries birds such as the parrot or scarlet macaw have been traded out of Mexico to the Pueblo people for use in their ceremonies.  Birds of all varieties occupy a position among the Hopi that is probably unsurpassed in importance by any other North American tribe.” ibid. 91

Condition: good condition with normal wear patterns.

Provenance: this Hopi Pueblo Kisa Katsina, Prairie Falcon Katsina Doll is from the extensive collection of a California resident

Reference: Hopi Kachinas: The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls by Barton Wright