D'Armon Kootswatewa
Mastop
11 3/4"
total height
"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 last day
of 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 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
the 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 toward the women."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist Documentary (13)
"Carving Katsina dolls
wasn't regarded as making art when I was learning to do it,"
says D'Armon Kootswatewa, whose Early Morning Singer (Talavai)
Katsina doll is one of the many high-value, wood sculptures that
he makes as art objects intended to share aspects of Hopi worldview
with others.
Like other successful contemporary
Hopi Katsina doll carvers, Kootswatewa feels the pull of two
worlds, Hopi and American, the latter often referred to as "Anglo"
in the Southwest. "Every Hopi learns and understands unwritten
rules.
We are taught to be considerate
of all we see. The dolls we make as art objects reflect our respect
for others and for the Earth. Our own personalities come into
our work. I want to keep the dolls authentic, so now I carve
every doll from a single piece of cottonwood root."
- Sculpture Review Spring 2007
