Kachina dolls are rooted in one of the Southwest’s oldest living traditions. In Hopi religious life, the katsinam are spirit beings — messengers and bringers of rain — and the carved figures most people know as kachina dolls began as teaching pieces, shaped from cottonwood root and given to Hopi children to help them learn the katsinam’s many forms. Navajo carvers later developed their own kachina-style dolls for collectors, a distinct tradition with its own look. Both are carved by hand, both are collected seriously, and an honest gallery tells you which is which.
