Lorryn Masawytewa
Hu Katsina
11" total
height
"When the time approaches
for whipping the children during ceremonies in the kiva, a signal
is given and the three kachinas: the Crow Mother and her two
sons, the Hú Kachinas, come rushing toward the kiva.
"There they make four
circuits of the hatchway creating as much noise as possible by
beating the hatchway with their whips and bounding about to make
their rattles sound. At the end of the fourth circuit they enter
the kiva and take their positions north of the fireplace. The
initiates are brought forward by their ceremonial god-parents
and placed on the sand painting.
"The Hú Kachinas
advance and give them four strokes with their yucca whips. As
each candidate is struck the yucca whip is waved through the
air with a wicked swish. This is a gesture of purification. After
the Hú Kachinas finish whipping the children, they whip
each other and then the Crow Mother. The Kachina Chief then dismisses
them with prayer feathers and cornmeal. They depart as noisily
as they came."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (67)
