Description

A carved painted wood Hopi Hemis Kachina doll. The kachina wears a helmet with terraced tablitas, symbolic of rain clouds. The Hemis kachina is usually the principal character in the Niman kachina dance and is sometimes called by this name. The Niman is the home-going performance for the kachinas, which occurs shortly after the summer solstice to signify the close of the kachina season. This kachina brings abundant, high-yielding crops of corn. The Hemis Kachina dancer usually shakes a rattle, this kachina may be missing the rattle. The doll has lost a good amount of its paint due to age.