Native American Hopi Carved Butterfly Maiden Dancer

Description

Native American Hopi Carved Butterfly Maiden Dancer by Dominic East

Palhik Mana is a Butterfly Maiden; not a Katsina, but a woman dancer. At the dances the Butterfly Maiden is not masked or hooded, though she usually appears this way when carved as a doll. Her tablita (headdress) carries traditional Hopi symbols. She generally appears in August, when the butterflies appear. The Butterfly Boy appears at the Butterfly Dance with the maidens. The Butterfly Dance, a traditional social dance of the Hopi, is held in August after the gathering of the harvest and presentation of the Snake Dance. It is a thanksgiving dance for the harvest, chiefly for the corn crop, and features dancing by young Hopi maidens wearing elaborate tablitas. This beautiful piece by Dominic shows the maiden's hair and manta moving in the wind. At the base of her manta a large sunflower peeks out. The butterflies come in summertime to pollinate the flowers. The back of the carving shows the pueblo.