"What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass
And loses itself in the sunset."
- by Chief Crowfoot, Blackfoot Tribe
Katsina dolls are religious icons made of cottonwood root and represent the spiritual essence of everything in the world. In the Hopi language the word "Kachina," or "Katsina," means "Life Bringer". The katsina religion dates from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, when people from the Four Corners region of the Colorado Plateau moved into the upper Colorado Valley and formed large aggregate settlements with the indigenous Mogollon or western Pueblo people. From its inception, the katsina religion helped create cultural equilibrium and cooperative behavior as immigrant and resident populations adapted to each other. To the Hopi, the katsina spirit was viewed as being responsible for the tribes survival. Without the katsinas help it was believed that water in the rivers would not flow and crops would not be abundant. The hand carved dolls were given to young girls to help them learn about their role as women in the Hopi community. Read More
