The Hopi Kachin Mana Symbolic Meaning of Hopi Kachinas

Kachina Mana or also Yellow corn Girl carries a tray of corn exactly like the Sakwap Kachina except that it is yellow rather than blue.

Symbolic Meaning of the Sakwap Hopi Kachina Doll

Sakwap Mana is so called because she carries a tray of blue corn; otherwise she is a standard Kachina Mana. The corn that she carries is stacked in a ring on a flat tray with the ears set on end, and these are surrounded by spruce boughs.

Information and Meaning of Navajo Hummingbird Kachina Doll

The Navajo Hummingbird Kachina doll appears during the dances of the Soyohim or Kiva dances. He is very fast Kachina so he may appear as a runner. When he catches a person then he whips him with a yucca whip, if he loses then he gives them a prize.

The meaning of the Qoqole Hopi Kachina Doll

Third Mesa is the only place where the Qoqole appears during the Soyal. He comes in a large group of many Qoqole and their manas, on the last say of the ceremony. Combining ritual with pleasure they burlesque other ceremonies while at the same time managing to “open” the kivas. Thus it is possible that at one moment the kachina may be very seriously marking the four sides of the kivas to allow the other kachinas to come visit the village, and at the next moment be kneeling on the ground to shoot marbles. Frequently they imitate the woman’s dances of the preceding fall. Third Mesa Qoqole has one other aspect that sets him apart from almost all other kachinas. He wears old Anglo clothing. Formally he may appeared in the buckskins that are seen on Second Mesa, but at present he does not appear this way on Third Mesa. More often than not the kachina appears with a black face and blue markings, although he can theoretically appear in any color because he is a directional kachina. As each direction has a color he could appear in a color combination representing any of the six directions.

Navajo Snake Dancer Kachina Doll Folklore

The most popular of all dances. The ritual is for rain making and corn growing. It occurs in late summer at the time the corn needs water the most, which also coincides with the monsoon season. The snake dancer puts a live snake in his mouth and dances with others in the plaza.

Meaning of the Hopi Kachina Kaletaka

The first mesa Kaletaka makes a single appearance in this form during the Soyal. He accompanies Ahulani from a shrine east of the village to the kiva where Ahulani later makes his appearance. Kaletaka carries a bow in his left hand and arrows in his right hand. His body is all black with white smears, and the same should be true of the legs rather than the long knit stockings. The bandoliers that are worn are stained red and twisted. The ears have eagle feathers inserted through them.

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.