Kachinas

Hermes Histoires de Carres > Autumn - Winter 2019

Kachinas are ritual dolls used by the children of the Hopi First Nation - Native American Pueblo peoples living in the southwestern United States. The peace-loving Hopi - Hopituh Shi-nu-mu means peaceful people - live in close connection with the spirits. Ancestors, clouds, the gods of fire and rain, and malicious or benevolent spirits are personified in religious ceremonies undertaken by boys from the age of six as part of their initiation. Forming a link between the worlds of the real and the invisible, the brightly painted wooden dolls with their myriad symbolic designs are given to children to familiarise them with ancestral rituals and culture.