Kachina Doll
Kachina dolls, or katsina tihu in Hopi, are small figures carved from cottonwood root and painted with the attributes of the katsinam, the spirit beings who visit Hopi villages from the winter solstice until July. Given to children, especially girls, by katsina dancers, they are teaching objects rather than idols: each doll helps a child learn the identity, dress and power of a particular spirit. More than three hundred katsinam are known, from the gentle and humorous to the fierce ogre katsinam who discipline children. Since the late 1800s Hopi carvers have developed the craft into an interna