Vern Mahkee
Soyok Mana
13 1/2"
H total height
Soyok Mana is one of several
orges women during the Powamu Ceremony. During this ceremony
they visit houses of a Hopi village and they threaten children
who have misbehaved and ask for food. They either whistle their
disapproval of or accept the food to be taken to the kivas.
A more commonly seen figure
is the Soyok Wuhti. This carving has the butterfly whorl hairdo,
indicating she is a not-yet-married Ogre Maiden.
"The awesome figure of
the Monster Woman [Soyok Wuhti] appears during the Powamu ceremony
as one of the many Soyoko who threaten the lives of the children.
Dressed all in black, with long stragling hair, staring eyes
and a wide-fanged mouth, she carries a blood smeared knife and
a long jangling crook - a truely fearsome creature to the children.
When she speaks, it is in
a wailing falsetto or with a long dismal hoot of 'Soyoko'-u-u-u,'
from which her name is derived. She may reach for the children
with the long crook and threaten to put them in the basket on
her back, or to cut off their heads with the large knife that
she carries in her hand utterly terrifying her young audience.
On some mesas she may be the
ogre that threatens a small child who has been naughty and bargains
with a relative to ransom the child, but on others she is not.
In some villages she leads the procession of the ogres; in others
she remains at the side, content to make threatening gestures."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi Artist's
Documentary (74)
Vern Mahkee was born November
13, 1963 and resides in Oraibi, at Third Mesa. He is a member
of the Corn Clan.
Vern is a self-taught artist.
He learned the art of carving by watching his numerous artistic
relatives, like his uncle, the famed Kachina carver Alvin James
Makya, and taught himself their methods as well as developing
his own.
Vern Mahkee first carved Kachinas
as a means of carrying on a religious rite. He began carving
the dolls for sale and entering shows in 1979. Since that time
he has developed a reputation for ultra-fine detail, as well
as beautiful balance in his Kachinas.
He has won awards in such
prestigious shows as the Santa Fe Indian Market. Vern¹s
Hopi name is Kuwanwisiwima.