Malcolm Fred
Hemis
18" total
height
"Probably one of the
most beautiful and best known of all Hopi Kachinas is the Hemis
Kachina. Often he is incorrectly called the Niman Kachina from
the ceremony in which he is most often seen. At sunrise, when
the kachinas come to the plaza to dance for the first time, they
bring with them entire corn plants, the first corn harvest of
the year, to distribute to the audience.
"Against the backdrop
of these magnificent kachinas and their Manas can be seen a flurry
of youngsters carrying the whole corn plants and brightly-colored
presents to the sidelines.
"In the Niman or the
Home Dance no other kachinas appear, neither clowns nor side
dancers, only the Hemis Kachinas and their Manas in a double
line rotating slowly in opposite directions, and turning yet
again.
"This final dance of
the kachinas is both stately and reverent. The Hemis Kachina
is presumed to have come from Jemez, a Rio Grande Pueblo. However,
at Jemez Pueblo they have a ceremony in which the Hemis Kachina
appears, and they refer to it as a Hopi dance."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (214)
Malcolm comes from a large
family of Kachina carvers which include brothers Jim, Verlan,
Henry, Nathan and Glen. He has been carving and winning awards
since he was a teenager.
His awards include a Zuni
Fire God which he entered into the 1996 Arizona State Fair. He
is married to and has 3 children with a Zuni lady. One of his
favorite kachinas is the whipper which he seems to do most frequently.
Malcolm is of the Greasewood
and Roadrunner clans, and was raised in the village of Bacavi.
He has been carving for 25 years. His motivation comes from his
religion, history, and the freedom of expressing his inner feelings.
Malcolm continues to achieve
incredible realism in his figures, and is known for his large
and well-proportioned figures.
