OCTOBER 2024 - TRADITIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN ART

We are looking forward to cooler temperatures and would like to send out a big 'WELCOME' to our Winter visitors who have either arrived or are on their way to beautiful Arizona!

This month we hope you enjoy some traditional art and bit of history from a selection of Native American Tribes.

Once made for every day use in collecting or gathering wild foods, or to cultivate crops like corn, the Burden Basket of the Apache Tribe is one of the most quickly recognized items pertaining to Native American cultures today.

The Apaches, traditionally nomadic hunters and food gatherers, first used burden baskets woven by women to carry firewood, roots, or berries. The tassels, typically made from deer hide, were mainly for ceremonial or decorative use, while the tin featured at the bottom of the tassels was placed for ornamentation, or to ward off snakes while gathering.

The Ojibway believe every animal has its own individual gifts, unique talents and powers. Therefore, animals are chosen as personal totems by one who hopes to gain an animals' special powers through emulating its behavior and characteristics. The Ojibway also believe that animals have the ability to sense changes of the world, seasonal transformations and the coming of things.

Example: Deer is of the peaceful 'hoof' peoples, and represents independence and resourcefulness.



Kachina dolls or figures are the physical representation of Hopi spirits and part of a belief system that dates back to the 1200s. There are upwards of 500 different spirits, each with its own separate look, accessories, and attributes. They represent everything from animals and nature to abstract concepts.

The Hopi call a single spirit or figure katsina,and the word katsinam is the plural. The name kachina is the result of translation errors.

Katsina spirits provide for, protect, teach, and instruct humankind. The Hopi believe that they visit the mesas from January to July to bless the people with rain, abundant crops, fertility, good health, knowledge, and other gifts. When they are not visiting, the Hopi believe Katsina spirits reside at the sacred place called Nuvatukaua’ovi, the San Francisco Peaks.

Water jars, or tus, were common necessities of the Apache tribes - Western, Jicarilla, and Mescalero Apache - and were generally the same size and shape, with some variations. The size of a single tus can range anywhere from six inches (decorative), all the way up to two feet in height (utilitarian). Apache women would collect water from a stream in a tus and transfer it to a larger container back at the wickiup. 

Water jars were generally three-rod foundation and coil weave. Willow rods were used for the foundations and sumac for sewing. Both the interior and exterior were treated with piñon pitch for waterproofing. Water bottles varied little in shape among the various tribes. The standard was a rounded body rolling over at the top from which rises a tall and restricted neck.

With long, flowing locks, the Longhair Katsinam are thought to provide rain for the Hopi villages. In fact, that long hair, which was shown in facial hair through beards, and long hair flowing down their backs is symbolic of falling rain. The long black hair is adorned with eagle fluffs which represent cloud bursts, and feathers which symbolize prayers for rain.

It is the beautiful melodies and the rhythmic dancing of this large group of Longhair Katsinam and Yellow or White Corn Maidens who accompany them that is usually followed by a long and beneficial rainfall which nourishes the earth and helps the crops grow.



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