Lowell Talashoma
Left Handed
Hunter
12" total
height
The Left Handed Kachina is
said by some to be derived from the Hualapai Nation, but other
Hopi attribute them to the Chemehuevi. He is called left handed
because his gear is reversed.
To draw an arrow from the
quiver he must use his right hand rather than his left as is
normal. The Kachina moves with strange bobbing and little choppy
steps. Despite his odd behavior, he is an excellent hunter.
"He is a favorite subject
for the carving of kachina dolls or the paiting of pictures,"
records Barton Wright.
The Left-handed kachina, Suy-ang-e-vif,
may act as a prompter in a dance or be found making odd little
bows and taking small mincing steps at the edge of a procession.
A great deal of the time he
has trouble with the Ho'-e when they appear in the same dance.
[When together], one of the usual pair keeps up a steady step
while the other points to evidence of [game] they are obviously
hunting.
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (32)
Lowell Talashoma was born
January 23, 1950 in the village of Moencopi, Arizona at the western
edge of the Hopi reservation. He spent many of his childhood
years in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a Mormon foster family.
In spite of his separation
from the Hopi influence, his talent for carving came through
as he began carving different animals from wood at the age of
6 as a Cub Scout.
Upon his return to Hopi at
about the age of 10 he began carving kachina dolls and has been
doing so now for almost 40 years. After Lowell's return to Hopi
he spent many years trying to reconcile the Mormon and Hopi religions.
He now feels the two flow together well for him. As a result,
Lowell is a very spiritual man.
Lowell states, "I try
to carve the dolls the way the Kachinas are in the dances. I
look at them the way they walk, the way they stand and how they
give the gifts."
Lowell's emphasis is on the
surface treatment of the wood, creating a multitude of various
textures that give a very realistic appearance. Lowell has also
done carvings in bronze and is an accomplished painter too
Lowell's figures portray the
human body in full action and in anotomic proportion. Lowell
is featured in most every book on Kachinas. He is featured in
Hopi Kachina Dolls and Their Carvers by Theda Bassman on pages
150-154 and in The Art of the Hopi by Lois and Jerry Jacka on
page 79.
Lowell's work is also shown
in Erik Bromberg's Kachina Doll Carving on pages 26,27 and 30.
In Helga Tiewes book, Kachina Dolls, Lowell is featured on pages
117-119.
The Kachina is signed on the
bottom of the base: "Lowell Talashoma, Sr."