The Hopi maintain a complex religious and mythological tradition stretching back over centuries. However, it is difficult to definitively state what all Hopis as a group believe. Like the oral traditions of many other societies, Hopi mythology is not always told consistently and each Hopi mesa, or even each village, may have its own version of a particular story, but "in essence the variants of the Hopi myth bear marked similarity to one another." It is also not clear that the stories told to non-Hopis, such as anthropologists and ethnographers, represent genuine Hopi beliefs or are merely stories told to the curious while keeping safe the more sacred Hopi teachings. As folklorist Harold Courlander states, "there is a Hopi reticence about discussing matters that could be considered ritual secrets or religion-oriented traditions."
A kachina is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo people, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In the Pueblo cultures, kachina rites are practiced by the Hopi, Hopi-Tewa and Zuni peoples and certain Keresan tribes, as well as in most Pueblo tribes in New Mexico.
In Hopi mythology, Angwusnasomtaka, also known as Tümas, is a kachina. She is a wuya, one of the chief kachinas and is considered the mother of all the hú and all the kachinas. During the Powamu celebration, she leads the initiation rites for the uninitiated children into the Powamu and Kachina societies. This includes the ritual of whipping them with yucca whips. This is a formal ritual and the whipping kachinas are careful in their actions during the ceremonial whipping. In the ritual, each child takes four strokes from the yucca blade then when the initiatory whipping is over, she raises her skirts and receives the same treatment accorded the children. In English, she is known as Crow Mother.
The San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic mountain range in the San Francisco volcanic field in north central Arizona, just north of Flagstaff and a remnant of the former San Francisco Mountain. The highest summit in the range, Humphreys Peak, is the highest point in the state of Arizona at 12,633 feet (3,851 m) in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an eroded stratovolcano. An aquifer within the caldera supplies much of Flagstaff's water while the mountain itself is in the Coconino National Forest, a popular recreation site. The Arizona Snowbowl ski area is on the western slopes of Humphreys Peak, and has been the subject of major controversy involving several tribes and environmental groups.
Chakwaina is a kachina which appears in Hopi, Zuni, and Keresan ceremonies, but does not appear in Tewa ceremonies. Although imagery of the kachina is varied, it is usually depicted as an ogre, with ferocious teeth and a black goatee and black mask with yellow eyes. Its spread throughout Pueblo culture is often associated with the Asa clan.
Jesse Walter Fewkes was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, writer, and naturalist.
Shalako is a series of dances and ceremonies conducted by the Native American Zuni people for the Zuni people at the winter solstice, typically following the harvest. The Shalako ceremony and feast has been closed to non-native peoples since 1990. However, non-native peoples may be invited as guests by a Zuni tribal member.
Hopi katsina figures, also known as kachina dolls, are figures carved, typically from cottonwood root, by Hopi people to instruct young girls and new brides about katsinas or katsinam, the immortal beings that bring rain, control other aspects of the natural world and society, and act as messengers between humans and the spirit world.
Ahöla, also known as Ahul, is a spirit being, a kachina, embodied by a man, in Hopi religion.
In Hopi mythology, Ahöl Mana is a Kachina Mana, a maiden spirit, also called a kachina. She is represented as a standard Kachin Mana; it is because she arrives with Ahöla that she is called Ahöl Mana. During the Powamu ceremony, she goes with Ahöla as he visits various kivas and ceremonial houses. On these visits Ahöl Mana carries a tray with various kinds of seeds.
In Hopi mythology Nataska is the uncle of the family of "ogre Katsinas" who guard Soyok Wuhti, and who enforce good behavior among the children. Nataska is a Mongkatsina. Wiharu is a similar or identical Katsina with a white rather than black face.
In Hopi and Zuni dance rituals, Hú, also known as Huhuwa and Tithu, is the Kachina of the hummingbird.
Polacca is an unincorporated community in Navajo County, of northeastern Arizona, United States. It is Hopi-Tewa community on the Hopi Reservation.
The Kachina Chasmata are the longest known canyon or system of canyons on the surface of the Uranian moon Ariel. The name comes from kachina, a spirit in Hopi mythology. The 622 km long and 50 km wide chasmata arise from a system of normal faults running from the north-west to south-east. The faults bound down-dropped crustal blocks forming structures called graben. The canyons cut the cratered terrain, which means that they were formed at a relatively late stage of the moon's evolution, when the interior of Ariel expanded and its ice crust cracked as a result. The floor of the canyons is not visible on the images obtained by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in January 1986; thus, whether it is covered by smooth plains like the floors of other Arielian graben is currently unknown.
Eototo is a Wuya, one of the major kachina deities of the Hopi people and the personification of nature. He is the protagonist of the Powamu ritual.
Art of the American Southwest is the visual arts of the Southwestern United States. This region encompasses Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. These arts include architecture, ceramics, drawing, filmmaking, painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, and other media, ranging from the ancient past to the contemporary arts of the present day.
In Frank Waters's writings on Hopi mythology, the Blue Star Kachina or Saquasohuh, is a kachina or spirit, that will signify the coming of the beginning of the new world by appearing in the form of a blue star. The Blue Star Kachina is said to be the ninth and final sign before the "Day of Purification", described as an apocalypse or a "world engulfing cataclysm" that will lead to the destruction of the world. Author Jason Colavito investigated this prophecy and found no reference to it before the late twentieth century.
Kate Cory was an American photographer and artist. She studied art in New York, and then worked as commercial artist. She traveled to the southwestern United States in 1905 and lived among the Hopi for several years, recording their lives in about 600 photographs.
Neil Randall David Sr. is an American artist and katsina carver. He learned the basics of carving from his grandfather Victor (Kawayo) Charlie.
Otis Polelonema (1902–1981), was a Hopi painter, illustrator, weaver, song composer, and educator. He lived in Shongopovi most of his life. He also worked as a WPA artist in the mural division. His native name in the Hopi language is Lomadamocvia which translates to "springtime".
