MidnightSun Kachina

I've lived in the Southwest United States for most of my life and attended university in Northern Arizona. While there, I was introduced to some of the traditions and myths of the Navajo and Hopi cultures. In the Pueblo cultures, kachina rites are practiced by the Hopi, Zuni, and Hopi-Tewa, as well as in most Pueblo tribes in New Mexico. The kachina "concept" has three different aspects: the supernatural being, the kachina dancers, and kachina dolls.

Many years ago, I had the honor to attend a "Going Home" ceremony at dawn on a high mesa in the Hopi Nation and was infused with the mystery of the annual rite as kachina dancers disappeared over he side of the mesa. I would never presume to understand the full significance of the ceremony, and I hope that my personal interpretations of some of the kachina icons are not considered an affront to these ancient peoples.

This image is a kind of reversal of the traditional Sun Kachina.