Katsina Heheya
Kachina Uncle
Hopi, Arizona
Years 1930-1940
H. 28.5 cm
Heheya Katsina - Uncle kachina doll
H. 111/4 in
Provenance:
- Ex collection of artist Wendall Gates (1911-2000), acquired in 1944-1945 in Denver.
Delivery of the lot submitted to obtaining CITES documents
- By family descent until 2015.
- Collection of Mr. A. F., Paris
The Heheya are part of the Kachina related to the harvests and danced on each of the three Mesas that make up the Hopi territory. They are recognizable by their symbols zigzagging under the eyes representing tears.
Different Hopi and Zuni myths refer to Uncle
Heheya. According to one of them, Heheya cries because men had at one time stopped invoking him during Kachina dances. Heheya's tears, symbolizing the beneficial rain, remind men of the importance of never ceasing to celebrate the Kachina spirits, the purveyors of blessings.
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