Collections: Arts of the Americas

Kachina Doll. Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. Zuni artist, 19th century. Wood, pigment, wool, hide, cotton, tin, 22 1/2 x 9 x 8 in. (57.2 x 22.9 x 20.3cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1903, Museum Collection Fund, 03.325.4631

Kachinas are representative of three types of entities within the religion of the Hopi and Zuni people. First, a Kachina is a spiritual ancestor who is a messenger to and from the gods. Second, a Kachina is a male dancer personifying these spirits. And third, a Kachina doll is carved as a secular representation of the spirits. Curator Stewart Culin identified this elaborate doll as Chilchi in his journals when he collected it at Zuni. However, no exact attribution can be made to a specific, known character, and it appears that Kachinas are so numerous and change so much over time that exact meanings and names of historical representations are often no longer known.

Religious ceremonies for the Hopi and Zuni people revolve around the cyclical calendar of seasons. During the time of the winter solstice, the invisible spirits of ancestors return to their villages as Kachina. Hopi and Zuni men, who belong to secret societies, believe that they actually assume the powers and persona of Kachina spirits when they enter the village dressed with painted skins, furs, and clothes and wearing the appropriate mask. During this period, several different occasions are held to dance, chant, and pray to the gods, who are believed to live in the distant mountains. These important ceremonies ensure rains for the coming agricultural season but also help renew all life. The Zuni and Hopi regard the life-size Kachina masks and clothing as sacred because of their religious, transformative powers.

Men, often a matrilineal uncle, carve Kachina dolls to give as gifts to young children during religious ceremonies. Since women cannot belong to the secret societies and become Kachina personifications and young boys are not members until they are initiated, these dolls help them learn about their religion. Children may therefore play respectfully with them or hang them on the walls of their homes. In the late nineteenth century, connoisseurs began to value and collect Kachina dolls as sculptural works of art, and Zuni and Hopi artists began making additional dolls for sale.