Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Taupou, post: 267950, member: 45&quot;]As to the doll, it is not an authentic kachina doll.&nbsp; It is a Navajo carved figure.&nbsp; Kachinas are spiritual figures from the pueblo cultures (the Hopi and the 19 Rio Grande pueblo tribes), they are not found in other Native American cultures. The Navajo are Athabascan, totally unrelated to the puebloans.</p><p><br /></p><p>Only the Hopi and Zuni carve authentic kachina dolls for sale, since it is still frowned upon by many tribal traditionalists as being sacrilegious to do so.&nbsp; Because kachinas are not part of their culture, Navajo carvers feel no such restrictions, and carve their version of them, flooding the market with inexpensive souvenir items.&nbsp; Some may resemble authentic kachina dolls (books on kachina dolls and kachina doll carving are widely available, after all), but the majority have a distinctive style which immediately identifies them as Navajo.&nbsp; Whenever you see a carving with rabbit fur decoration, or lots of feathers, leather, wool, or fabric...it&#039;s an indication it is Navajo.&nbsp; The Hopi and Zuni do not make kachina dolls like that.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most Navajo carvers (who have a long tradition of carving great folk art figures), will usually refer to these carvings as &quot;dolls,&quot; not &quot;kachina dolls.&quot;&nbsp; That distinction will usually be lost by the time the carvings show up on the secondary market, however.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>(This could easily turn into a post better suited to Rants and Raves, I&#039;d better stop.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in