Old Style Hopi Carved Butterfly Traditional Katsina Doll by Ryon Polequaptewa
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. Ryon was asked by the Heard Museum to work on a show for 100 Years of Carvers. As he studied the older dolls, he became fascinated with the work of Wilson Tawaquaptewa (1871-1960). Ryon has recreated dolls from this old collection and, in this case, created a new one of his own in the same style. This particular carving he calls Polequaptewa, which means "Butterfly Sitting on a Flower." A beautiful carving of this beautiful Katsina.Click on numbered boxes below image for additional views.
