Tuesday, July 25, 2023
The kachina dolls were particularly intriguing to me. I have heard of them and seen them before but didn't know their significance before this. The museum had information regarding them but here is an overview from Wikipedia:
"Kachinas are spirits or personifications of things in the real world. These spirits are believed to visit the Hopi villages during the first half of the year. The local pantheon of kachinas varies from pueblo community to community. A kachina can represent anything in the natural world or cosmos, from a revered ancestor to an element, a location, a quality, a natural phenomenon, or a concept; there may be kachinas for the sun, stars, thunderstorms, wind, corn, insects, as well as many other concepts."
"Kachinas are understood as having human-like relationships: families such as parents and siblings, as well as marrying and having children. Although not worshipped, each is viewed as a powerful being who, if given veneration and respect, can use his particular power for human good, bringing rainfall, healing, fertility, or protection, for example. The central theme of kachina beliefs and practices as explained by Wright (2008) is "the presence of life in all objects that fill the universe. Everything has an essence or a life force, and humans must interact with these or fail to survive."
Dale and I found the overall experience at the Heard Museum to be particularly moving. In this country we are still so cut off from the Native experience. For myself I found that in order to appreciate the beauty of this work I had to acknowledge the systematic attempts to eradicate Native American culture from this land.
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