Kachina Doll (Sa'lakwmana)

Item number 04.297.5543 from the Brooklyn Museum.

Public

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Description

Correct name for this Kachina is Sa'lakwmana (Salakamana), a tall slender Kachina maiden whose headdress represents clouds. The design on the dress represents feathers. She appears with her brother during the Home Dance in midsummer ceremonies when men are initiated into the religious societies.This round body kachina doll is wearing the Shalako style of cloud headdress. Painted red, and black with an elaborate pattern on the body. Original attribution came from Culin journals and is incorrect.

Credit Line

Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

Label

Sa’lakwmana Kachina appears as a slender Hopi maiden who stands eight to nine feet tall in her stepped headdress, which denotes clouds. The design on her dress, as seen here, represents feathers. She performs only during some Niman (Home Dance) ceremonies, with her brother Sa’lakutaga. After the Home Dance in July, all Kachinas return to their spiritual home in the San Francisco Mountains until they reappear in February.

Kachina Sa’lakwmana aparece como una delgada doncella Hopi, de ocho a nueve pies de alto en su tocado escalonado, el cual indica nubes. El diseño de su vestido, como se aprecia aquí, representa plumas. Ella actúa solamente durante algunas ceremonias Niman (Danza del Hogar), con su hermano Sa’lakutaga. Después de la Danza del Hogar en julio, todos los Kachinas vuelven a su hogar espiritual en las Montañas de San Francisco hasta su reaparición en febrero.