This week marks the return of the Katsina (Kachina) to the Hopi villages. These spirits are believed to return to the Hopi people from their home in the San Francisco peaks. One of our favorite Hopi Carvers, Poleyestewa, has created a collection of dolls in honor of this time.

The Katsina Dances on the Hopi Mesas start in winter and continue into July when the Kachina spirits (Katsinam) go to their home until the following year. At Third Mesa, where Chester Poleyestewa is from, the dances begin when the Katsinam arrive on the Mesa in December. At First and Second Mesas, they arrive in February.

If you are from the Denver area, and old enough, you might remember a time when the gift shop at the Denver Museum of Natural History had one of the finest selections of Native American Indian arts and crafts in the country. It’s now known as the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

In 1973, a group of Hopi artists who were part of the Hopi Arts and Crafts Cooperative Guild, formed a separate group called Artist Hopid.