Make A Winter Kachina Craft: Celebrate Soyal
These brightly colored figures are known as kachina Dolls and were created by the Native American Tribes of the Southwest, mainly the Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo tribes. This Mythology Craft is for the Winter Solstice celebration of the Hopi’s, known as Soyal. We will focus on the Hopi tradition because they are the first tribe to create kachina dolls. Learn more about these beautiful and ornate creations as you make your own.
Who are the hopi?
The Hopi are a Native American tribe based in Arizona and practice the traditions of the Soyal Festival and kachina dances. They inhabited Arizona for almost 2000 years and before that probably came from Mexico. In fact, there may even be connection between Hopi religion and the Central American god, Quetzacoatl. (You can learn more about the Mexican Serpent God here and make a fun craft.)
The Hopi have stories of a great flood like many cultures and practice a special technique of dry farming. It protects the soil more than industrial farming because it does not use plows and is done a smaller scale. Many parts of the Hopi culture revolve around their location in the dessert because of the level of adaptation required to function in Arizona.
What Are Kachinas?
The kachina, also known as the katsinim, are spirits that represent the natural world. They can be anything in the earthly or cosmic realm, for example, they might personify a location, the sun, wind, or corn. They can also be the spiritual embodiment of revered ancestors. There are more than 400 different kinds of kachina. Every kachina is different and some even punish naughty children.
While the kachina are not worshipped as a god, they are treated with respect as they occupy a supernatural place in some Native American cultures. Kachinas sometimes bring messages from the gods and may even intervene to help mortals.
Two ways the kachina are represented in the human realm are through kachina dolls and the kachina dancers.
Kachina Dolls
The dolls are carved from the roots of the cottonwood tree. The American Southwest is very dry and the cottonwood tree has long roots that dig deep into the ground in search of water. Some suggest the Hopi choose to carve the dolls out of the cottonwood because water is so important in the desert, creating a link between life giving water and the supernatural kachina.
Originally made for children, in the 1900’s collectors began to purchase the dolls as art pieces. Children receive the dolls to help them learn the stories and history of the different kachinas and are not actual toys. They have a cultural and religious purpose. Early dolls are very block like and simply carved. As the dolls continued to develop, they became more decorated and include things like feathers, leather and wool. Many Hopi started making Kachinas for a retail market as a means of economic survival. Most modern Kachina dolls sell for about $100 – $400, but some older museum quality pieces can be in the tens of thousands.
Kachina Dancers
The Hopi men dress up as kachinas for certain religious ceremonies and dance throughout the village. When the men put on the kachina masks, costumes and paint, the spirit of the kachina takes over the individual person. Interestingly, women do not dress up as kachinas and dance, although there are female kachinas. The dolls, however, are primarily given to young women and girls.
Soyal: The Winter Solstice Celebration
Like many farming cultures, understanding the movement of the sun is critical and the Hopi celebrate the winter solstices with a ceremony known as Soyal. It marks another cycle in their Wheel of the Year, The Wheel of the Year essentially divides the year into different festival seasons. The year is divided into two main periods, katsina (kachina) season and non-katsina season.
At Soyal (the winter solstice) the kachina come down from the the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff Arizona to bring the sun back to the world. They stay with the Hopi until the summer solstice when they return to their mountain home. Like many winter solstice ceremonies in other cultures, Soyal is a time re-establish life as the days will soon grow longer until summer. In fact, Soyal or Soyaluna as it is sometimes called means, “Establishing Life A New for All the World.”
As part of this tradition, the Hopi make Pahos sticks before the ceremony in order to bless all the community on the day of festival on December 21st. The Pahos or prayer sticks are decorated with feathers and paint. The festival represents the second phase of creation and during this period the tribes plan out life for the next year.
When you finish the project, why not try making Hopi Corn Stew with this recipe from A Recipe for History.
Let's Get Crafting
Supplies:
- Markers, Crayons or Colored Pencils
- Glue
- Feathers
- Cotton Balls
- Soyal Kachina Template
Directions:
- Print the coloring page
- Color it in, you can use you traditional colors or choose any you like
- Glue feathers on the top
- Glue cotton balls around the collar (if you have markers, you can color the cotton balls or leave them white)
