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TUCSON, Ariz. – Katsina images on basketry is the topic of Arizona State Museum’s newest exhibition CIRCLES OF LIFE: Katsina Imagery in Hopi Basketry. This traveling exhibition, curated by Andrew and Judith Finger, is from the Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House in Ukiah, CA. It includes historic pieces from the Finger collection as well as contemporary examples from the John Selmer and Barbara Goldeen collection. While at ASM, it will be augmented by the museum’s own collections of Hopi baskets, pottery, and katsina dolls.

NUVAKTSINMANA POOTA (Snow Katsina Maiden), coiled plaque, woven by Daisy Mansfield  from the collection of Patricia Lowery.

Katsinam refers to the religion of the Hopi people. It is a polytheistic religion, with a myriad of gods and spirits representing chief characteristics and functions relevant to the Hopi way of life, especially rain and plant germination (esp. corn). Annual performance of katsina ceremonies, which take place in sacred spaces called kivas and in public plazas, is essential to maintaining balance in Hopi life.

Katsinas are other-worldly beings endowed with, and representative of, specific plant, animal, human or meteorological characteristics, each with its own distinct behaviors, costumes and responsibilities. These ancestral beings, called “friends” by the Hopi, serve as intermediaries, carrying prayers for rain, fertility, health, and well-being to the gods themselves. The katsinas come to the Hopi in the form of clouds or as beings from the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff (90 miles southwest of the Hopi Mesas), springs in the area, and other high or wet places. Different ones  merge at different times of the year to be featured in ceremonies and dances on the Hopi Mesas.

The actions of the katsinas, whether benevolent or frightening, didactic or slapstick, directly impact the lives of their human subjects in every aspect of consequence: cultural origins, social interactions, familial kinships, agricultural cycles, migration patterns, settlement establishments, health, wealth, happiness, and general well-being.

The Hopi calendar of religious ceremonies is divided into two parts: December to mid- July, and mid-July to December. Each of the two seasons has its own ceremonies and dances. Hopi katsinas appear only from December to mid-July, during which different katsinas make their appearances. They do this with the help of men who have been initiated into the katsina religious society and are allowed to impersonate the spirits in all their fantastic behaviors and ceremonial regalia. Other members of the community, especially the children, are not supposed to recognize their fathers, uncles, brothers, and friends who are behind masks and costumes. Hopi children believe in katsinas much like Christian children believe in Santa Claus. Hopi children delight over receiving gifts of dolls, miniature bows and arrows, fruits, sweets, and other foods. However, some katsinas are used by the community to remind the children, and all community members, that their roles and appropriate behavior are never to be taken lightly.

So important and pervasive are the spirits that representations of them populate every aspect of Hopi artistic expression – rock art, sculpture, pottery, mural painting, painting, jewelry and basketry. Decoding the iconography is key to beginning to understanding the wonderfully complex religion, social constructs, history, and enduring traditions of the Hopi people.

Most of us are familiar with the carved representations, or dolls, created from cottonwood roots. While the ones we are familiar with are created specifically for the tourist market, ceremonial ones are created for the annual ceremonies and rituals. Hopi children receive their first katsina while still in the crib. It is a teaching tool that begins a life-long education within the complex society. Archaeological research tells us that these formalized practices have been going on since the 14th century.

Visitors to this exhibit will enjoy an historic overview of the Hopi basket-making traditions, techniques and types, and will learn how to “read” and identify distinguishing katsina iconography.

Arizona State Museum is located on the University of Arizona campus at Park Ave and University Blvd in Tucson at 1013 E University Blvd. For more information, visit www.statemuseum.arizona.edu or call 520-621-6302.