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Circa: 2008
Manufacturer: Center for Indigenous Arts & Cultures
Collector Bookstore is a retailer of new books located in Leavenworth, Kansas. We specialize in price guides and reference books for the antiques and collectibles industry. The Center for Indigenous Arts & Cultures is proud to present the seventh volume in our series. Each book is organized alphabetically, so readers can look up a particular artist in seconds. The purpose of the series is to introduce the public to American Indian artists and to honor them for their "fine arts. This volume profiles over 1,600 Hopi Katsina carvers from 1840 to the present. Although Katsina dolls began to be signed in the 1930s, earlier carvers were identified from family tree charts, historic documents and oral history interviews with direct descendants. This book was designed to make the vast body of research readily available. Hopi Katsina dolls are traditionally small wooden figures, hand-carved from cottonwood roots and painted with natural earth pigments.
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| The term Katsina has three translations: one of more than 300 spiritual beings; a society of spiritual singers and dancers; and small wooden figures also called Tihu. The original purpose of Katsina dolls is to educate children about their ancestral religious traditions stretching back over a thousand years ago. Today, most Hopi Katsina carvers live around three mesas in northern Arizona about a hundred miles from the Grand Canyon. Many live in stone villages considered the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. Hopi spirituality is still strong. New songs are being inspired through dreams. Their ancient ceremonial cycle stands unbroken. Hundreds of Katsina dancers fill their plazas at precise times of the year. Katsina Societies remain active. Over a century ago, U.S. government agents predicted American Indians were on the verge of extinction. These so-called experts were wrong. American Indian cultures have survived. The state of the American Indian art world is strong. And, with our continued support as art patrons, American Indian artists and their families may grow even stronger. The key to the growth of American Indian cultural arts is for art patrons to support the true artists who create "authentic, handmade, Native American arts." |
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