Carll H. de Silver Fund

This man's breast plate has nine, carved flat, shell bead strands across the chest centered with a blue faceted glass bead. This is then held by a raw, hide, thin band that goes all around. This is studded with small brass buttons. Ten rawhide cords are along the sides for tying on and two at the top.

Painted, wooden figure of Christ on the Cross with the Sacred Heart of Christ at his feet and painted cherub faces at each end of the horizontal bar of the cross.

Tag attached M.D. Schwatrz: "Flask 19th c. Puurchased over 40 years ago in shop in Greenwich, R. I."

Compactly modeled buffalo (photo left) standing on four legs with head slightly lowered. Incisions on the back of the two front legs indicate long hair. Neck ruff and beard are moldeled. No hoofs indicated. Leather ears and tail are inserted into the clay.

Museum Expedition 1903, Museum Collection Fund

Eagle Dancer (Kwahu) Kachina Doll. Artist probably Henry Shelton as he is stylistically like those he carved in body sculptural form and hand treatment. A Kachina with outstretched arms made from one piece of cottonwood root. His arms have real feathers and down on them. He wears a carved dance skirt, a bandolier and a pelt sash that hangs down in the back. His helmet style mask is blue, topped with a yarn band and feathers and circled with a yarn ruff around the bottom neck area. His eyes are black slits, his yellow beak is open. He wears yarn ties around his calves. Although unsigned, he is stylistically like those carved by Henry Shelton in body sculptural form and hand treatment. The eagle dance is a prayer for good crops, rain, and plentiful eagle feathers as their feathers important in many ceremonies. The Kachina usually appears in a group of several forming a dance troop, squawking and imitating eagle behavior while the Koyemshi (mudhead clowns) sing to them. The sponsoring kiva must fast, abstain from sex, and no eating of salty or fatty foods before the dance.

This Kachina may represent the one of the Hemushikwe who appear on the last day of the Shalako performances when the Shalako was traditionally given by the Muhewa Kiva.There are six of these impersonators, one for each kiva. The colors and symbols used in the tablita, or headdress, relate to the sky or sky elements. The body has earth elements. The mask may change but always contains symbols and colors that relate to clouds and from where the rain comes.

Flute (Lenang) Kachina. Associated with bringing water to the springs he appears during the Powamuya ceremony in February. He had the PR arm raised and holds a blue gourd rattle and the wrist has a yarn tie. The PL arm is down holding a flute with feathers dangling from it while the wrist has a carved armband simulating metal with turquoise in the center. His PR leg is raised and painted blue. PL leg is down and painted yellow. Both legs have short blue boots, his knees are striped yellow and blue and both have a band of bells tied to them. The bare chest is painted flesh colored with yellow on the PL breast and blue on the PR. He wears a carved Hopi kilt. On his back he wears a multicolored yellow, blue and red backpack trimmed with red fringed yarn, topped with feathers and lower edged with cotton. Underneath this peeps out a carved wood fox tail. He has a blue face painted with diagonal yellow and black stripes in triangles on the cheeks, slit eyes and triangular mouth. He wears feathers on the back of his long black hair.

Unknown type of Kachina Doll (possibly a Whippers Uncle (Tungwup) Taahaamo). This Kachina stands on both feet with PR arm slightly rose holding a white cane with a feather dangling from it. His PL arm is lower and carries a painted pouch and decorated flat "wand" which has feathers dangling from it. His entire shirt is wood, white and long sleeved with with black yarn ties at his wrists. He has a braided black yarn bandolier across chest from right to left. Wears the traditional Hopi skirt and sash with a carved fox tail in the back. He crouches a bit but both feet are down on base. His mask is helmet style, black with goggle eyes and a fierce open shark-like mouth showing red with white teeth. He has two straight horns, blue with feathers on the tips. Around his face is a white cotton ruff across the top and a fur ruff along the bottom. In the back of his head he has brown striped feathers.