Flat Dolls-Putskatihu

Also called "cradle dolls' because they are given to Hopi infants, Putsqatihut or flat dolls are the very oldest form of katsinas dolls among the Hopi. After a child has gone through his or her naming ceremony 20 days after birth, the first one received is the Hahay'i wuuhti or katsina grandmother. The next is the katsinmana or katsina maiden. After that they may receive any katsina doll. The katsinas themselves carve them for the young girls who continue to receive them (usually more fully formed and detailed ones as they grow older) until they are initiated into the Hopi Katsina Society. 

The first three dolls are by Larsen. A Kokkopelmana 6.5 inches high and $42. A Supai Ta’amu (Supai Uncle), 10 inches high and $52. (IN SANTA FE) A Hahai Wuuhti 7.5 inches high. $30. The Talavai’i at far right is by Horace Kayquoptewa and 8.25 inches to the tip of the feathers. $52. A left-Handed Hunter katsina by Eric Kayquoptewa. 10 inches high. $50. (These last three are all in TUCSON)

Larson went all out on the Hemis katsina, creating a beautiful flower motif pattern on the reverse. 22 inches high. $325. (SANTA FE)

All by Nick Brokeshoulder. From left to right: Aya (Rattle) 15 inches $70, Solaawitsi 13 inches $70, Koo’àakatsina 13 inches high $70, Sootukwnangw $70, Hootsko (Spruce Owl) 12.5 inches tall and $90 and Sio Ta’amu Hemis, which is borrowed and adapted from the Zuni Pautiwa katsina 12.5 inches. $70. . (ALL IN SANTA FE)

According to an old Hopi story, the Hopi people fell ill. The epidemic was so widespread through the villages that the people were starving. It was a group of Navajo who showed up and fed them and nursed them back to health. The Koo’áakatsina katsina commemorates this event and the Navajo people.