Lean Monongye
Masua'u with
Fire
8 3/4"
total height
"Masau'u (Skeleton
Kachina) is the only kachina who does not go home at the Niman
Ceremony and thus may dance at any time of the year. The organization
of the dance is very much like that of the Niman with the Masau'u
dancing in one line and the Masau'u Mana in the other.
"In addition the Skeleton
Kachina may appear during the Pachavu as a pair, with the Wawash
Kachina as a racer, or after a regular kachina dance in the plaza.
As he is a Death Kachina he does many things by opposites, for
the world of the Dead is the reverse of this world.
"Thus he may come down
a ladder backward or perform many other common actions in reverse.
In addition the standard Masau'u dance often has antic episodes
during the performance. Occasionally he may appear as a pair
of Masau'u behaving erratically, singing or growling a bit, beating
on the kiva hatchways with the willow switches, or dancing around
the fires at the cooking pits and even through the fires.
"The many colored splotches
on the mask are alluded to as clouds even though the actual face
is that of a skull surmounted by Soyal prayer feathers."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (254)
Lean Monongye is a young carver,
probably in his early thirties, from Third Mesa.
His work is very distinct,
and he is well known for his smooth finish and fine detail. Generally
Lean tries to incorporate additional details into the base of
each doll - this particular piece features a village scene, perhaps
indicative of the village where the original story took place.
He is one of my personal favorites,
and I have yet to see a kachina by Lean that I wouldn't like
to have in my own personal collection. I feel that his work is
upper-middle tier and still represents a good value as an artist
with a lot of potential.
