Sio Hemis Katsina

Object detail

Production place

Hopi Pueblo/New Mexico/United States of America

Media/Materials

Wood, paint, feather and twine

Credit line

Gift of Jane Stieren Lacy

Accession number

2009.10

Object type

Sculpture

Department

Spanish Colonial and Native American Art

Location

Not on view

Further information

Clouds, dragonflies, sunflowers, and a rainbow adorn this Katsina's headdress, or tableta, to indicate the spirit's importance as a rain bringer. The Sio Hemis appear in the town's plaza in July to close the Katsina Season with the Niman (home-going) performance. Standing in a double line with their Manas (female counterparts), the Katsinam slowly rotate in opposite directions and then back again, continuing this solemn dance until they leave the plaza to return to their home in the distant San Francisco Peaks, Arizona.

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Subject category

Native American Americas Hopi pattern Artistic Devices and Terms symbolism clothing and costume Furnishings and Equipment headwear jewelry masks

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