Native American Hopi Carved Butterfly Maiden Sculpture

Description

Native American Hopi Carved Butterfly Maiden Sculpture by Harold Nevayaktewa

Palhik Mana is a Butterfly Maiden, not a Katsina, but a woman dancer. Though at the dances the Butterfly Maiden is not masked or hooded, she usually appears this way when carved as a doll. She generally appears in August, as that is when the butterflies appear. 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 headdresses. This carving shows the Butterfly Maiden with her manta decorated with butterflies, Hopi symbols, and a young Hopi man sending his pipe smoke as prayers up to the Great Spirits for rain. Harold does amazingly clean work and this showpiece of a carving is a spectacular example of his skill and artistry.