Hopi Very Large Male Sio Salako Katsina Doll [R]

“The Sio Salako is a Hopi interpretation of the Shalako Ceremony of Zuni and thus receives the name Sio (Zuni).  Sio Salako is portrayed like neither the Zuni nor the Hopi Salako, but is instead a separate entity.  He was introduced to the Hopis by a Tewa man around 1850 and first appeared as a group of four kachinas.  Since that time changes in ceremonial have reduced the number to one and added Salako Mana that formerly did not appear.

“He appears in late spring on very rare occasions and is thought to be especially efficacious in bringing rain.  A view of this nine-foot kachina is a rare sight indeed.” Wright 1973

The basic difference is costume of the male and female is that the male wears turquoise moccasins and the female wears the white doe skin moccasins with leg wraps.

Recommended Reading: Kachinas: a Hopi Artist’s Documentary by Barton Wright with original paintings by Cliff Bahnimptewa.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery

Condition: very good condition with minor paint abrasion.

Provenance: from the private collection of a Santa Fe resident