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Michael Dean Jenkins: Soyok Wuhti

9 1/2" total height


"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)


Michael Dean Jenkins is an award-winning carver and is featured throughout "The Art of the Hopi" by Lois and Jerry Jacka on pages 46, 75 and 80. At the 2000 Heard Museum Indian Market, Michael won First Place and Best of Division. He also won First Place and Best of Division at the 1997 Museum of Northern Arizona Hopi Marketplace.

Michael Dean Jenkins is noted for his one-piece Kachina carvings in a very unique style. He uses very soft hues and muted colors to achieve a beautiful finish.

Special Collections

Now: $3,600.00
(plus sh/han)


If you are interested in this item, please call Brandon, or send email to: sales@ancientnations.com

1.800.854.1359

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