Watson Namoki
Masau'u
7 3/4"
H with 1/2" base
Watson Namoki was born August
8, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents are from the village
of Kykotsmovi at Third Mesa. His paternal clan is the Fire Clan.
Watson has been carving Kachina
dolls since he was a teenager, and has been carving seriously
since about 1994. Like most artists, he is mostly self-taught
by watching other carvers.
His father, Bob Namoki, is
also a well-known carver. Watson typically creates smaller figures,
with particular attention paid to the costume of the Kachina
and its color and design. Watson's carving is important to him
and not just as an expression of his Hopi culture, but also as
his primary source of income. He is a fairly prolific carver
and does the full range of Kachinas.
"Masau'u (Skeleton
Kachina) is the only kachina who does not go home at the Niman
Ceremony and thus may dance at any time of the year. The organization
of the dance is very much like that of the Niman with the Masau'u
dancing in one line and the Masau'u Mana in the other.
"In addition the Skeleton
Kachina may appear during the Pachavu as a pair, with the Wawash
Kachina as a racer, or after a regular kachina dance in the plaza.
As he is a Death Kachina he does many things by opposites, for
the world of the Dead is the reverse of this world.
"Thus he may come down
a ladder backward or perform many other common actions in reverse.
In addition the standard Masau'u dance often has antic episodes
during the performance. Occasionally he may appear as a pair
of Masau'u behaving erratically, singing or growling a bit, beating
on the kiva hatchways with the willow switches, or dancing around
the fires at the cooking pits and even through the fires.
"The many colored splotches
on the mask are alluded to as clouds even though the actual face
is that of a skull surmounted by Soyal prayer feathers."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (254)
