The Story of the Hopi Kachina Eototo

One of the kachinas that appears each year is Eototo. On each of the three mesas he is the spiritual counterpart of the Village Chief and as such is called the “father”of the kachinas. He is the chief of all kachinas and knows all ceremonies. At Third Mesa during the Powamu Ceremony, Eototo and Aholi come out of the Chief Kiva. Eototo always leads, and he draws cornmeal symbols of clouds on the ground. Aholi places his staff on the symbol and waves it in an all-encompassing fashion while giving a long call. This performance is the blessing of the village and marking it so that the clouds will come into the pueblo. A ceremonially prepared hole in the plaza is marked with cornmeal lines leading to it for the clouds to follow, and then water is poured into the hole which represents the town cisterns. The water is from Eototo’s gourd of sacred water. Arriving at the Powamu Kiva where the Crow Mother awaits, Eototo again draws lines leading to the hatchway from the different directions and then pours water from his gourd into the hatchway where it is caught in a basin by the Powamu Kiva Chief below. At each blessing Eototo is given prayer  feathers and the kiva chief takes some of the corn sprouts that he carries under his arm. Aholi faithfully repeats each action. Again these actions are to bring water to the village  and it’s growing crops., symbolized by the bean sprouts in the kiva. The role that Eototo plays in each ceremony is complex and is only briefly summarized here.

The Mastop Hopi Kachina Folklore and History

The Mastop Kachina is the second kachina to appear on Third Mesa. He is not present on Second or First Mesa. These Kachinas always arrive in pairs and come bounding out of the northwest on the next to the last day of the Soyal. As they rush into the village they beat all the dogs that they encounter using the short black and white staff which they carry for that purpose. Leaping about with many antic gestures, they make their way to the Chief Kiva where they talk in disguised voices with the Chief Kiva where they talk in disguised voices with the individuals inside and with each other. Then, as though suddenly becoming aware of the females in the audience, they dash madly into a cluster of women and grab their shoulders from behind and they give a series of small hops indicating copulation. Then they return to kiva and converse for a while before again dashing over to another group of women, repeating the action until nearly every woman present from child to the very oldest has been approached. All women, even the shy ones, do not avoid this embrace as it is a serious fertility rite despite the antic touches, which are never directed towards the women.

The meaning behind the Hopi Kachina Ahola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahola is an important chief kachina for both First and Second Mesa as he opens the Powamu ceremony with a kive performance on the first night. This performance seems to involve mimetic magic to slow the passage of the sun. At a shrine in the “Gap” of First Mesa the next day an additional rite is performed as the sun rises. With daybreak Ahul and the Powamu Chief deposit pahos (prayer feathers) at Kachina spring, for he is the ancient one he led the people from the San Francisco Peaks eastward as far as the great river and then westward to where they were stopped by the turbulent waters and where their houses still stand. After going to the Kachina Spring, Ahola and the Powamu Chief then visit all the kivas and houses with ceremonial associations, disturbing the Powamu Chief’s bean and corn plants and marking the entrances with four stripes of meal, thereby appealing to the Cloud Chiefs to sit over these places. At the end of this ceremony Ahola descends to a shrine where he bows for times to the Sun and asks for long life, health, hapiness and good crops for his children.

Soyal Ceremony

Corn Maiden Hopi Kachina Doll

The Soyal is the winter solstice ceremony and with its beginning other kachinas make their appearance. For some Mesas and villages this will be the first appearance of any kachina. The primary ritual is conceived as helping to turn the sun back toward its summer path. Woven around this concept are many others that involve the entire community in one respect or another. On second and third mesas there is a war ritual in which medicine is prepared that all members of the village may either drink or smear on themselves for health and strength.  On first mesa this occurs after the Soyal, but there is an appearance of the masked War Chief that does not occur on the second and third mesas. Corn of all colors that is ritually tied with yucca fiber is brought into the kivas for consecration. On third mesa the consecrated corn is returned to the women by four unmasked individuals while on first mesa it is symbolically paraded by Ahulani and the two Corn Maidens before being returned. Pahos (prayer feathers) are prepared by groups and individuals for every conceivable purpose. Prayer feathers are prepared for relatives, family and friends; for personnel well being; for the increase of animals and crops; and prayer objects are made by the kiva group of the village. On third mesa the Mastop Kachinas appear and symbolically fertilize all the females of the village. A different kachina but one with a similar purpose appears on second mesa during initiation years. There is no known kachina that is comparable on first mesa. The final day of the Soyal on  third mesa is characterized by the appearance of the Qoqoqolom and their kachina manas who appear and “open the kivas” by marking the hatchways with cornmeal. On first mesa it is Ahulani and the Corn Maidens who open the kivas with their appearance in the village, while on second mesa, it is Ahul and a single Mana that perform this function.

Soyal Kachina

Hopi Soyal Kachina Doll

 

The Third Mesa Soyal Kachina holds in his left hand the standard or symbol of the Soyal Ceremony: four long switches with feathers at intervals along their length. Normally the feathers that appear on the sticks are flicker feathers, but they are represented as eagle breast feathers. The artist has made an attempt to catch the old and worn appearance of the hunting shirt that the Kachina wears.

 

The Solstice Kachinas

The Returning Kachinas

Each year the opening ceremony of the Kachina season is performed by the Solstice or “Return” Kachinas. Their appearance, after a six month absence, signals the starting of a New Hopi year, for no other kachina may it be seen on the mesas until this ritual is completed. These Kachinas appear after the Wuwuchim Ceremony, which is held in late November, and at a precise interval before the Winter Solstice. Only Third Mesa has a single figure, the Soyal Kachina, to announce the approaching Solstice ceremony to start the new Kachina season. If one were standing in Oraibi early in December he might see a solitary figure making its feeble and uncertain way in the late afternoon sun from the southern mesa edge to the village. Dressed in shabby, worn clothes, and tottering along with the stumbling movements of an old man, the first kachina of the year enters the village, often almost unnoticed by its inhabitants. Following a set path the Solstice or Soyal Kachina proceed, singing a song too sacred or too low to be heard by bystanders; creakily performing a dance, he stops at a certain kiva and places prayer feathers and sprinkles corn meal. When he has visited the kiva and the plaza and completed his ritual he makes his uncertain way out of the village and disappears having opened the kachina season for the coming year.

Navajo Kachina Doll Information

Although the true origin of Kachina Dolls is mainly derived from the Hopi and Zuni pueblos, Navajo Kachina Dolls are still both admired and collectible. Unlike the Hopi, the Navajo Kachina Doll is usually made using rabbit fur, feathers and leather. They are not as intricate as Hopi Kachinas but they still have a meaning and purpose.

An Introduction to Hopi Kachina Dolls Part One

The Hopi Indians are the westernmost of the Pueblo peoples and live in twelve villages set on the three mesas in Northeastern Arizona. These are called First Mesa, Second Mesa and Third Mesa in order of their access from the east. To grow crops, particularly corn, in their semiarid land the Hopi believe it is absolutely essential to have the supernaturals on their side. However, the Hopis do not approach their supernaturals as we do. The Hopi feel that their supernaturals have certain powers which they do not have, and that they in turn process things which their supernaturals desire. Thus quite often Hopi rituals are mutual gift-giving ceremonies. The supernaturals desire prayer feathers, corn pollen and various rituals, and the Hopis like rain, so this mutual exchange works out very well for both parties.