Native American Hopi Carved Butterfly Dancer Katsina Doll by Carlton Timms
The Politaka is the male form of the Butterfly Katsina. He seems to appear solely on Third Mesa and may actually have developed there. The dance he performs is much like the common social Butterfly Dance. The Butterfly Dance, a traditional social dance of the Hopi, is held in August after the gathering of the harvest and presentation of the Snake Dance. It is a thanksgiving dance for the harvest, chiefly for the corn crop. This katsina is portrayed with the payaiyokyasi, or moisture tablets, (the wings). Click on numbered boxes below image for additional views.
