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.

Navajo Wolf Kachina Symbolic Meaning

The wolf kachina appears in the mixed dance and the water serpent ceremony. He is a side dancer in the Soyohim dances. The wolf is considered a great pack hunter who helps  and guides the hunters on large combined hunts. After the dances the Wolf is offered cornmeal or ceremonial prayer feathers, so the tribes may learn from him and secure game on their hunt.

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.

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.

Navajo Hemis Kachina

Hemis Kachina – Navajo

When the time comes to leave for their home on top of the San Francisco Peaks in Northern Arizona. The ceremony is called the Niman (going home). Any Kachina may lead this procession and it normally is done by the Hemis Kachina.

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.