Old Style Hopi Carved Frog Traditional Rain Kachina Doll (Katsina Doll)

Description

Old Style Hopi Carved Frog Traditional Rain Katsina Doll by Jordan Saufkie

The Frog Katsina (Paqua) is most likely a Water Clan Katsina. This Katsina is supposed to have originated in a prank at Shungopavi in the late 1960s. During a dance, rasping noises were heard coming from a huge box covered with painted paper. During a pause in the dance the paper broke and the Frog Katsinam hopped out. On a more serious side, water is truly the staff of life here in the arid southwest and the frog would be a harbinger of rain and therefore a welcome site in Hopiland.

The Hopi tell stories to their young about animals and the fact that they have human characteristics. By doing this when the children are young, the children understand that animals deserve the same respect as people. These animals, in the stories, use their powers to "become" humans and do human things. This "magic" is used to teach the children respect for the animals and a life-long respect for "magic" that they might not understand and the power that magic has in the right hands and the damage it can cause in the wrong hands. The frog is just one example of this type of "magic." The shape-shifting animal can be anything. This sweet frog can hang on the wall or stand on a shelf.