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.

Ahulani Kachina Folklore and Meaning

Ahulani makes his quiet appearance rather late in the afternoon of the sixth day of the Soyal Ceremony when he rises rather than creakily from one of the kivas with his two maidens. He and his two maids function almost exactly as does the Soyal Kachina of third mesa in that no other kachina may appear before them. In essence he is the announcer of the coming Kachina season just as is Soyal. However, Ahulani, Kachina Mana and Sakwap Mana appear during the Soyal rather than sixteen days before. Together the trio arrange themselves near the Kiva hatchway and face east. Ahulani plants his staff firmly on the ground and they begin to sing. As each chorus is finished they pace slowly forward a step for each part of the song until it is completed. Making his dignified way to the plaza, followed by the two manas with their burdens of corn, he repeats the same ritual there and in other parts of the village, before they return to the kiva and disappear. This ceremonial circuit of the village, bearing token corn, is the last act before the seed corn that has been concentrated in the kiva is returned to the owners . Ahulani appears in two very distinct forms; one variety is seen only on the years when the Snake Dance is held on first mesa and the other when the Flute Dance  is held on that mesa. As he accompanied by maidens bearing seed corn in trays, Ahulani does not carry a tray in this performance. Rather he holds a staff in his right hand and chieftain gear in his left hand.

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 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.