Neil
David Sr.
Warrior
Mouse
8
3/4" total height
This particular
figure represents the fabled "Warrior Mouse." While
not actually a kachina, he has earned himself a respectable place
in the hearts of young and old alike.
As the story goes,
the village was being threatened by a nasty old hawk - he was
eating all the village chickens.
The old men knew
he must be killed, the boys knew he must be killed, and all the
women and children knew he must be killed - but no one knew how,
and all their plans had failed.
The Village Chief
and Town Crier were very worried and had met in private to smoke
and ponder upon the subject. Even they did not know how to rid
themselves of the marauding hawk.
Then late one night,
a little mouse sat smoking in his little kiva - and he felt bad
for the people and decided that he would kill the hawk. So that
night he went to the home of the Village Chief.
Upon being invited
in, he ate and smoked, and the chief smoked, and the mouse told
him why he had come. He was going to kill the hawk. At first
the chief was amused, and then he was concerned, but he accepted
the offer anyway.
When the Town Crier
and the rest of the village heard about the plans of the mouse,
they shook their head and questioned the village leader. But
some thought maybe the mouse had special power. So they prepared
anyway.
A date was set,
and preparations took place. People came from all the other villages
to see their friends and relatives, to talk and joke, and of
course to eat. They came to see the mouse who was to kill the
hawk.
The mouse had also
prepared. He had sharpened the end of a greasewood stick and
dug a long tunnel from his kiva into the plaza. There he dug
another hole reaching to the surface. He smoked all night before
the day of the warrior's dance. He dressed himself in warpaint
and feathers and took his club and bow.
He set the warriors
standard on the ladder of his kiva, and when it was time he emerged
dancing and singing his little warrior song - The hawk kills
chickens, and the hawk kills rabbits, but the hawk will not kill
the warrior mouse!
The people all
watched in amazement - some in doubt, as the hawk sat watching
from far away. He was angry with this mouse and flew off to destroy
him - but the mouse danced close to the opening of his kiva and
ducked inside each time the hawk came close.
Then finally he
went into the tunnel he had dug and drove the sharp spear up
through the ground next to the opening in the earth, and he went
back out singing and dancing. Only this time he went far away
from his kiva, and all the people thought the hawk would get
him for sure. It was just then that the hawk swooped down low
to snatch up the pesky mouse, but the mouse dropped down into
the hole he had dug, and the hawk, who did not see the spear
in the ground, impaled himself, slicing his throught, and rolled
over dead.
The villagers were
amazed, and the little mouse was honored as a hero - and they
celebrated. And that is how the mouse defeated the hawk.
Born in 1944 on
First Mesa in the village of Hano, Arizona, Neil David Sr. -
a Hopi/Tewa - was carving kachina dolls before he was ten years
old.
During his high
school years his paintings and sketches were sold through Byron
Hunter who managed McGee's store in Polacca, Arizona.
Neil's paintings
and kachina carvings can be found in private collections and
museums throughout the world. The set of 79 original paintings
by Neil, published in his book: Kachinas: Spirit Beings of
the Hopi, have been acquired by the Kashiwagi Museum in Tateshina,
Nagano, Japan.