Tobacco Flower Kachina doll, Tsitoto Katsina, Hopi, Arizona, USA
1930s
Carved wood (cottonwood root) and pigments
H. 24 cm
Tobacco Flower Kachina doll, Tsitoto Katsina
H. 7 ¾ in
Provenance:
- Former private collection in Paris
Tsitoto, the Kachina spirit of the Tobacco Flower, is recognizable by her mask decorated with colored vertical stripes that resemble the appearance of a rainbow, and by her long, curved beak. This figure wears a "manta" on her shoulders, the traditional shawl of Hopi women.
Tsitoto is one of the Kachina Chiefs belonging to the Tobacco clan. He appears at important events such as the Water Snake Ceremony. When the Tsitoto dancer moves, he often carries a yucca whip and waves it around. It is said that a stroke of Tsitoto's whip can cure rheumatism and other diseases. It is also said that Tsitoto's appearance during dance ceremonies is a prayer for the arrival of summer and the return of the sun after heavy rains.
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