Katsinas are powerful spirits that bring instruction and blessings to the people at Hopi. The inventive tripartite carving on this plate highlights this power. This plate is kiln-fired and thus lacks the blushing given by an outdoor dung firing. I am not particularly attracted to either carved or kin-fired pottery from Hopi, but the complex image on this plate overrode such reservations. The three spiritual beings represented here have great power at Hopi; their images give this plate substantial cultural weight.
I was not aware of Elson’s work before buying this pot. He was married to Fannie Myron Polacca and thus was a son-in-law of Thomas Polacca (1935–2003). Thomas was among the first male potters at Hopi and, with Wallace Youvella, developed the art of carving Tewa-Hopi pottery. Presumably Elson learned the art of pottery from his father-in-law.
Form:
This is a simple, almost flat, plate. It is quite thick (0.50-inches) and heavy for its size. Before it was carved the interior was a slightly concave surface only 0.25-inches deep. The incised lines that form the interior design are less than 0.125-inches deep and were probably formed with a Dremel tool. On the exterior, the flat bottom is about 7.5-inches wide; the sides then curve upward about 1.25-inches to the rim.
The clay from which the plate was formed is a very pale tan, a result of its kiln firing. The dish is clearly signed “Elson Seckletstewa” in block letters on its base. He made the plate in 1996.
Design:
Interior:
For many years Janice and Joseph Day ran the Tsakurshovi Trading Post on Second Mesa. Joseph became an expert on katsinas. When I asked him about the identity of the katsinas on this plate, he wrote:
On the lower left. It is a Wuyaktaywa at Second Mesa or Wuyaqqötö as they say at Third Mesa. Lower right image is Ahöla. Upper Image is probably Tawa. hard to tell because of the colors. Those are correct spellings using the standard Hopi orthography.
Left quadrant: Wuyaktaywa or Broad-faced Katsina
This quadrant captures the essential details of this being. A broad black face frames a protruding white eye with a black iris. The cheek of the face displays a large red triangle arching over two smaller white triangles, perhaps representing an ear or a painted cheek. The mouth has rectangular red lips; the teeth are represented by interlocking black zig-zags on a white background. Jutting from the side of the face is a large, broad, curved black horn. Hanging from it is a pathos (prayer feather). Hanging from the red lips is a curtain of 32 thin black hairs forming a beard marked with two irregular white stripes. A red tongue hangs from the mouth.
Right quadrant: Ahola: The Germ God or Chief Katsina
The elements forming this face are all geometric and are dominated by a large hook-shaped red form inscribed with 8 crosses. Along its lower border is a large Z-shaped white element with a black groove running its length. Tucked under the upper segment of the Z is a black wedge-shaped element. Extending from its lower edge is a long yellow beak. These elements form the kachina’s head; around its neck is a brown-stippled form with a rounded edge, probably representing a spruce bough collar. The body below the neck is represented by four wide angled stripes of color: white, black, red and white.
Upper quadrant: Tawa or Sun God:
Tawa is a God, not a katsina, and thus occupies a position of great power. As can be seen below, his face is a distinctive image, but only the upper portion of his visage is shown on plate 2025-02 and thus attributing this quadrant is a bit problematic. The upper portion of Tawa’s visage is formed by two wedge-shaped segments. These two segments are shown on this plate; both are inscribed with stepped rain-cloud elements. The left segment is black with the inserted cloud form painted red. The right segment is the reverse: painted red with inserted cloud form painted black. Both cloud elements are lightly textured. Tawa’s face is encircled by a fan of feathers, but the feathers on this plate have a pattern.
Feathers:
A full fan of 30 feathers frames all three spirit beings, but these feathers are represented two different ways: 1) Along the upper edge of the heads in the right (Ahola) and upper (Tawa) segments are a series of eleven-and-a-half (11.5) carved red equilateral triangles. These form the base of 23 light-brown etched feathers, each triangle bridging the base of two feathers. 2) The 7 feathers that frame the left segment (Wuyaktaywa) lack the red triangle at their base but show the same light-brown etching as the other feathers. Finally, all 30 feathers are tipped with black right triangles.
Exterior:
The design on the exterior of the plate is painted, not etched. About a third-of-an-inch below the rim Elson has painted a thin line that encircles the dish. Pendant to this line are 13 black stepped rain clouds.
Design Analysis:
There are elements that unify this design but also elements that create dissidence. Most strongly, the three carved wedges are edged by thin white lines that converge at a central point, focusing the overall design and unifying the three disparate segments. On the other hand, the horizontal line below the heads of the two lower images bifurcates the design of the plate creating a dissident tension with the central focus point above. Note that the design below this line to the right displays wide slanted linear elements. The design below this line to the left highlights a light comb of thin vertical hairs crossed by wavy white bands, a contrast to the heavier slated forms to its right. The irregular white stripes in the beard of Ahola energize the design and keep it from being formalistic.
Almost all Hopi cosmology is focused on procuring sufficient rain to grow corn. Thus it is notable that the painted design on the exterior of the plate is a direct reference to rain clouds while the interior carving celebrates the spirit beings who facilitate such rain.
A Introduction to Three Spirit Beings:
Since the spirit beings on this plate are presented in fragmented form, I think it useful to show each of them it their entirety, with an explanations of their function.
Wuyaktaywa or Broad-faced Katsina:
Wright, 1973:26
“In every ceremony there are guards to prevent any transgression on the path of the kachinas. In addition, guards or Angry Kachinas were formerly used to enforce community work such as the cleaning of springs. It is to this category that the Weak-kuita belongs. …Wuyak-kuita is most often seen bringing up the rear of the Bean Dance Procession or circling wide at the sides. He is the one who moves toward the clowns and absolutely terrifies them (Wright, 1973:26).”
Ahola: The Germ God or Chief Katsina controls the growth and reproduction of all things.
Wright, 1973:9
“[Ahola opens the Powamu (Bean Dance) ceremony in February] with a kiva performance on the first night…At a shrine in the ‘Gap’ of First Mesa the next day an additional rite is performed as the sun rises. With daybreak…Ahola… and the Powamu Chief deposit pahos (prayer feathers) at Kachina Spring, for he is the ancient one of the Kachina Clan. As the ancient one he led the people from the San Francisco Peaks eastward as far as the great river and then westward to where they were stopped by the turbulent waters and where their houses still stand. After going to the Kachina Spring, Ahola and the Powamu Chief then visit all of the kivas and houses with ceremonial associations, distributing the Powamu Chief’s bean and corn plants and marking the entrances with four stripes of meal, thereby appealing to the Cloud Chiefs to sit over these places. At the end of this ceremony Ahola descends to a shrine where he bows four times to the Sun (Tawa) and asks for [blessings] (Wright, 1973:9).”
He is “one of the germ gods…He is the Solstice or Return Kachina for First and Second Mesas as well as being a Sun Kachina. The women place corn ears in the kiva with him the day before he emerges in order that the corn will become stronger seed and help in producing an abundance of corn. Theses ears are returned to the women when he emerges from the kiva with a single mana (woman assistant) to help him……He visits each of the kivas to open it for the return of the kachinas after their long absence. His route also takes him to all the clan houses in the village to strengthen then for the coming year. Before he departs he offers up prayers to the Sun for a long life, happiness and health and abundant crops for all the people (Wright, 1977:36).
Tawa or the Sun God
Wright, 1973: 124
“(Tawa) travels the sky every day, ending his trip in the kiva of the Woman of Hard Substances in the Pacific Ocean. He is considered to be a young, handsome god, gentle, kind and helpful. He never mingles with the people (Colton, 1949/59:80).”
“He is not often personated (Wright, 1973: 124).”
I bought the plate from Charles King and he described the plate:
“Elson Sekletstewa is from First Mesa in Hopi. This plate is made form native clay and is carved with three katsinas as the design. There is a Broadface Katsina, an Aholi Katsina, and a Sun Katsina. It is creative how they each take up a third of the piece. It is carved at various levels and painted with clay slips. It is signed, “Elson Sekletstewa”.”
As noted earlier, the carved format and kiln-firing of plate 2025-02 generally do not appeal to me. However the composition of the design, its roots in Hopi culture, and the skill with which the carving was accomplished overcame my usual reluctance. Plate 2025-02 is a strong and vibrant statement about the spirit beings that are at the center of life at Hopi.
