Hopi Kachinas is a short film from 1960, photographed by Jack Breed and produced by ACI Productions, that shows the creation of a doll and the role the carved figure plays in the Hopi religion and culture. The film opens with shots of the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, AZ, and of Arizona’s rocky plateau. Hopi Indians stand on adobe homes with wagons out front. Hopi people dance along a dirt road during what appears to be a Kachina celebration (01:10). A man gives a Kachina to a young girl. The film shows several different Kachina dolls (02:15), each representing something different. Renowned carver Jimmy Kewanwytewa creates a Kachina Mana doll (02:33). Next, he creates a headdress for the doll, using a piece of sandstone to smooth the wood. He then paints the doll. Kewanwytewa admires his finished doll (05:08). The film shows more Kachina dolls, then cuts back to the Hopi dance (05:50). Men dance using juniper boughs as part of the ceremony. A man (it appears to be Kewanwytewa) and his daughter walk on a dirt road with the San Francisco Peaks looming in the background (07:25). He gives her the Kachina doll.
Hopi katsina figures (Hopi language: tithu or katsintithu), also known as kachina dolls, are figures carved, typically from cottonwood root, by Hopi people to instruct young girls and new brides about katsinas or katsinam, the immortal beings that bring rain, control other aspects of the natural world and society, and act as messengers between humans and the spirit world.
Hopi people live primarily on three mesas in northeastern Arizona, about 70 miles from Flagstaff. In Hopi cosmology, the majority of katsinas reside on the Humphreys Peak, approximately 60 miles west of the Hopi Reservation. Each year, throughout the period from winter solstice to mid-July, these spirits, in the form of katsinas, come down to the villages to dance and sing, to bring rain for the upcoming harvest, and to give gifts to the children.
The katsinas are known to be the spirits of deities, natural elements or animals, or the deceased ancestors of the Hopi. Prior to each katsina ceremony, the men of the village will spend days studiously making figures in the likeness of the katsinam represented in that particular ceremony. The figures are then passed on to the daughters of the village by the Giver Kachina during the ceremony. Following the ceremony, the figures are hung on the walls of the pueblo and are meant to be studied in order to learn the characteristics of that certain Kachina. Edward Kennard, co-author of Hopi Kachinas, says concerning the purpose of the kachina figure, "Essentially it is a means of education; it is a gift at dance-time; it is a decorative article for the home, but above all it is a constant reminder of the Kachinas.”
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