Hopi Soyok Wuhti Katsina Doll by Cecil Calnimptewa

This carving of Soyok Wuhti Katsina was made by Hopi-Tewa carver Cecil Calnimptewa in 1987. It is an all-wood carving with colors applied from oil-based stains. She is in running motion, has a staff in her left hand, and a knife in her right hand. On her back she carries a burden basket. The staff, knife, and basket are elements for scaring children into proper Hopi behavior. Her long red tongue hanging out over the long black beard adds to her fright.

Overall, this is a masterpiece carving of a beautiful figure. The artist signed his name on the pedestal. Cecil Calnimptewa, Jr. is a top prize-winning Katsina doll carver. His one-piece carvings are highly sought by museums and serious collectors. Cecil is the only Hopi carver to have been profiled in a monograph.

To quote Barton Wright: "The awesome figure of the Monster Woman appears during the Powamu ceremony as one of the many Soyoko who threaten the lives of the children. Dressed all in black, with long straggling hair, staring eyes and a wide-fanged mouth, she carries a blood-stained knife and a long jangling crook—a truly fearsome creature to the children. When she speaks, it is in a wailing falsetto or with a long dismal hoot of ‘Soyokό-u-u-u.' from which her name is derived. She may reach for the children with the long crook and threaten to put them in the basket on her back, or to cut off their heads with the large knife that she carries in her hand, utterly terrifying her young audience." [Wright 1973:74]

On some mesas, she may be the ogre that threatens a small child who has been naughty and bargains with a relative to ransom the child, but on others she is not. In some villages she leads the procession of ogres; in others she remains at the side, content to make threatening gestures.

The purpose of this frightening episode is to scare the children into proper behavior. The basket is used to carry away the food that the mother used to buy off the ogre's frightful behavior. The food is then taken to the kiva for feeding the katsinas. The mother is held in awe for saving her children from the ogre. All's well that ends well.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Hopi Soyok Wuhti Katsina Doll by Cecil Calnimptewa is from the collection of a family from New York

Reference and Recommended Reading:  Hopi Katsina: 1,600 Artist Biographies by Gregory and Angie Schaaf

TAGS: Kachina – Katsina Doll, Hopi Pueblo, Cecil Calnimptewa, Jr., Hopi Pueblo Carver