Jon Cordero
Mountain Lion
8 1/2"
total height
"The Mt. Lion Kachina
appears at Pachavu times as does the Tokoch (Wildcat) Kachina.
When he carries yucca whips in his hand, he would be one of the
Angry or Watching Kachinas
"He may appear in the
Mixed Kachina Dance with either Deer or Antelope Kachinas whom
he leads for he is always in the front and is never caught. In
this role he is a side dancer for the Deer or Antelope and carries
a talavaiyi, a cane with eagle feathers and red horsehair fringe,
in his hands."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (113)
He is wearing a Hopi sash
and turquoise belt. His moccasins are rawhide and reach above
his ankles. A fox pelt drapes from his backside and sways as
he dances.
He wears no shawl, while eagle
feathers adorn the top of his head, and eagle plumes dangle from
the rear.
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.
