Native American Hopi Carved Warrior Twin and Grandmother Katsina Sculpture

Description

Native American Hopi Carved Warrior Twin and Grandmother Katsina Sculpture by Lester Honie, Jr.

Warrior Twins or Two Little War Gods (Po-okang-hoya and Palo-ngao-hoya) are twin gods, grandsons of Spider Woman, and are depicted as young boys. They mingle with the people and play tricks on them, but if the people are in trouble they appeal to their wise grandmother who shows them how to help the people outwit evil. They are not associated with any particular ceremony, nor are they personated by members of any particular group. Po-okang-hoya wears a skull cap with feathers. His face is painted black with two vertical white lines, warrior symbols, on his cheeks and white around the mouth and eyes. This wonderful sculpture also shows the Grandmother. The Grandmother Katsina (Hahay-i wu-uti) or Happy Mother shares with Crow Mother the title of Mother of all the Katsinam. Her husband is said to be Eototo and her children are the monsters, the Nataskas. She appears during the Bean Dance (Powamuya), the Serpent Ceremony and at Home Going (Niman). She speaks in a high voice and is very talkative. Flat carvings of the Grandmother Katsina are given to Hopi infants. As a young girl matures, she receives larger, more detailed forms of the various Katsinam. Surrounding the body of this sculpture are other Katsinam including the Longhair, Qoqooqlo, Sunface, and Hoho Mana.