Native American Hopi Carved Ogre's Uncle Katsina Doll--Vintage

Description

Vintage Native American Hopi Carved Black Ogre's Uncle Katsina Doll by Womack Pavatea

The Black Ogre's Uncle (Tahaum Soyoko) arrives with the Black Ogre (Nata-aska). While Ogre Woman (Soyok Wuhti) threatens to physically harm people, Nata-aska and Tahaum Soyoko dance and brandish their weapons. These Ogres are disciplinarians who appear around the time of the Powamuya ceremony. Ogres carry a saw (sometimes a knife) as well as a bow and arrows for hunting. Their outstanding feature is their long, flapping jaws, which they can clack quite loudly. The purpose of these Katsinam is to reinforce the Hopi way of life to the children of the Pueblo. These Ogres accompany Soyok Wuhti on her trip to collect food from the children. As a means of discipline, children are told the Ogres can swallow them whole unless they are good children. The fierce and threatening behavior of these Katsinam strikes fear into the children, but they are eventually saved from imminent danger by the people of their Pueblo. Anglos would call these Katsinam the Boogeymen. This Katsina was carved in the mid 1960s by Hopi Carver Womack Pavatea. The Katsina has a feather headdress and horsehair that comes over his face. He wears a cloak of fur, a shell bracelet, a leather and shell rattle on his right leg, a yarn wrap on his left leg and his brown carved moccasins are adorned with leather fringe. A fabulous, quite large and imposing Katsina that most remarkably is free standing .