Native American Hopi Carved Butterfly Maiden Dancer Sculpture

Description

Native American Hopi Carved Butterfly Maiden Dancer Sculpture by J. J. Cook

Palhik Mana is a Butterfly Maiden, not a Katsina, but a woman dancer. She generally appears in August, as that is when the butterflies appear. 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 and features dancing by young Hopi maidens. This sweet maiden wrapped in her manta is spreading her wings as she grows out of the flower bloom at her feet.