D'Armon Kootswatewa
Mountain Lion
10 1/4"
total height
"The Mt. Lion Kachina
appears at Pachavu times as does the Tokoch (Wildcat) Kachina.
When he carries yucca whips in his hand, he would be one of the
Angry or Watching Kachinas
"He may appear in the
Mixed Kachina Dance with either Deer or Antelope Kachinas whom
he leads for he is always in the front and is never caught. In
this role he is a side dancer for the Deer or Antelope and carries
a talavaiyi, a cane with eagle feathers and red horsehair fringe,
in his hands."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (113)
D'Armon Kootswatewa was born
in 1966 and is from Moenkopi, Arizona west of the Third Mesa
on the Hopi Reservation. D'Armon has two children with his wife,
Louise Kootswatewa. D'Armon first learned to carve from Cecil
Calnimptewa Sr. while working on Cecil's ranch long ago.
D'Armon has become an award
winning Kachina carver and is one of the most talented Hopi carvers
that we have the privilege of working with. In 1993, D'Armon
won First Place at the Gallup Inter-tribal Ceremonial for one
of his Kachina carvings. He continues to win awards and gain
notoriety as one of the best Hopi Kachina carvers in his generation.
"Carving Katsina dolls
wasn't regarded as making art when I was learning to do it,"
says D'Armon Kootswatewa, whose Early Morning Singer (Talavai)
Katsina doll is one of the many high-value, wood sculptures that
he makes as art objects intended to share aspects of Hopi worldview
with others.
Like other successful contemporary
Hopi Katsina doll carvers, Kootswatewa feels the pull of two
worlds, Hopi and American, the latter often referred to as "Anglo"
in the Southwest. "Every Hopi learns and understands unwritten
rules.
We are taught to be considerate
of all we see. The dolls we make as art objects reflect our respect
for others and for the Earth. Our own personalities come into
our work. I want to keep the dolls authentic, so now I carve
every doll from a single piece of cottonwood root."
- Sculpture Review Spring 2007