Jon Cordero

Left-handed Hunter

7" total height


The Left-handed Kachina is said by some to be derived from the Hualapai Nation, but other Hopi attribute them to the Chemehuevi. He is called left handed because his gear is reversed.

To draw an arrow from the quiver he must use his right hand rather than his left as is normal. The Kachina moves with strange bobbing and little choppy steps. Despite his odd behavior, he is an excellent hunter.

"He is a favorite subject for the carving of kachina dolls or the paiting of pictures," records Barton Wright. Incidentally, Lowell happens to be left-handed and has adopted the Left-handed kachina as his mascot.

The Left-handed kachina, Suy-ang-e-vif, may act as a prompter in a dance or be found making odd little bows and taking small mincing steps at the edge of a procession.

A great deal of the time he has trouble with the Ho'-e when they appear in the same dance. [When together], one of the usual pair keeps up a steady step while the other points to evidence of [game] they are obviously hunting.

- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi Artist's Documentary (32)


Born June 16, 1968 to the village of Moenkopi, Arizona, Jon is the son of a Hopi mother, and a Cochiti father who died when Jon was just a baby.

Although Jon was raised on the Hopi Reservation, he would always spend a month each summer with his Cochiti grandmother, the famed matriarch of storytellers, Helen Cordero. His grandmother tried to teach him to make storytellers, but it just wasn't his calling.

Instead, when he was in high school, he learned to carve Kachina dolls from his uncles, Hopi master carvers Loren Phillips and Tom Holmes. And Loren was not only his teacher but also continued to encourage Jon in his carving through the years.

Like the traditional Hopi Jon continually strives to be, he works very hard all the time tending to his cattle and his horse as well as planting and tending his crops of corn, beans, melons and squash. And he participates in the dances, in respect to the Kachinas.

Yet Jon always finds time to do what he likes best, and that is to carve. Instead of carving alone, Jon prefers the company of other carvers. His favorite carving buddy has always been his cousin and clan brother Leonard Selestewa, who was also always a great source of encouragement for Jon. Among the many books on Hopi Kachinas that mention Jon and his work is Theda Bassman's Hopi Kachina Dolls and their carvers.

Jon says he is serious about his carving and wants to carve for the rest of his life. Whenever he finishes a carving he hopes it will find a good home, and whoever buys it will admire it for the rest of their lives. Jon has become well-known for his beautiful, realistic Kachina doll carvings and his work has become highly sought after.


Gallery Price: $1,500.00

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