Lowell Talashoma
Warrior Maiden
11 3/4"
H incl. 1 1/2" base
Lowell Talashoma was born
January 23, 1950 in the village of Moencopi, Arizona at the western
edge of the Hopi reservation. He spent many of his childhood
years in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a Mormon foster family.
In spite of his separation
from the Hopi influence, his talent for carving came through
as he began carving different animals from wood at the age of
6 as a Cub Scout.
Upon his return to Hopi at
about the age of 10 he began carving kachina dolls and has been
doing so now for almost 40 years. After Lowell's return to Hopi
he spent many years trying to reconcile the Mormon and Hopi religions.
He now feels the two flow together well for him. As a result,
Lowell is a very spiritual man.
Lowell states, "I try
to carve the dolls the way the Kachinas are in the dances. I
look at them the way they walk, the way they stand and how they
give the gifts."
Lowell's emphasis is on the
surface treatment of the wood, creating a multitude of various
textures that give a very realistic appearance. Lowell has also
done carvings in bronze and is an accomplished painter too
Lowell's figures portray the
human body in full action and in anotomic proportion. Lowell
is featured in most every book on Kachinas. He is featured in
Hopi Kachina Dolls and Their Carvers by Theda Bassman on pages
150-154 and in The Art of the Hopi by Lois and Jerry Jacka on
page 79.
Lowell's work is also shown
in Erik Bromberg's Kachina Doll Carving on pages 26,27 and 30.
In Helga Tiewes book, Kachina Dolls, Lowell is featured on pages
117-119.
The Kachina is signed on the
bottom of the base: "Lowell Talashoma, Sr."
"Hé-é-e
or Hé'wuhti may be seen in Powamu celebrations most years,
but it is at the Pachavu ceremonies that Hé-é-e
is seen in her most impressive appearance. This kachina is the
Warrior Maid, based on the story of a young girl.
Many years ago, tradtion says
that some Hopis were living outside the main village, and the
mother of this household was putting up her daughter's hair.
The mother had finished only one side of the hair whorls, the
hair on the other side still hanging loosely, when they saw enemies
sneaking toward the village.
The daughter snatched up a
bow, quiver, and arrows from the wall and raced toward the village
to warn the people. She then led the defense until the men in
the fields could return and rout the enemy.
She has been personated ever
since as a kachina and always appears with her hair partially
up on one side and hanging down on the other. On the back of
her head she wears an artificial scalp lock, and she carries
the weapons she snatched up so long ago. She still guards the
village."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas:
a Hopi Artist's Documentary (57)