Adobe Gallery Blog

Soyokomana Katsina is the Ogre Woman.  She appears during the Powamu ceremony, accompanied by the ogre, Nataska.  She approaches households begging for food to take back to the kivas for the Katsinas to eat.  If she is given too little or something not to her pleasure, she growls in disapproval.  She has a basket on her back in which she carries off the acceptable food.

The Nataska, usually in pairs, accompany the Soyokomana and stand behind her as she bargains with the children.  They make horrible noises to frighten the children and supposedly they are able to eat a child whole.  The Soyokomana accepts food in lieu of hauling off children who have not lived up to the Hopi ways.  By doing this, the mother, who has bargained with her to accept food, rather than her children, comes out to be the best and the winner.

Henry Fred has illustrated the Soyokomana in her traditional manner, carrying a knife to scare the children and a staff to grab them by the neck, which, of course she does not do but only threatens to do.

Condition: the carving was purchased from the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ in 1990 and is presumed to have been recently made.  It is in original condition.

Provenance: from the estate of Michael Frost of Texas

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

Subject: Hopi Soyokomana Katsina Doll
Artist / Carver: Henry Fred (1951 - present)
Category: Contemporary
Origin: Hopi Pueblo
Medium: Cottonwood root, oil-based stains
Size: 12-1/2 inches tall
Item # C3360Q