KACHINA

Kachina

A kachina is a spirit being in western Pueblo cosmology and religious practices. The western Pueblo, Native American cultures located in the southwestern United States, include Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Village, Acoma Pueblo, and Laguna Pueblo. The kachina religion has spread to more eastern Pueblos, e.g., from Laguna to Isleta. The term also refers to the kachina dancers, masked members of the tribe who dress up as kachinas for religious ceremonies, and kachina dolls, wooden figures representing kachinas which are given as gifts to children.

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kachina

Noun

  1. A vaguely ancestral anthropomorphic spirit being, associated with clouds and rain or personifying the power in the sun, the earth or corn (among other things).
  2. A wooden doll, as might be given to a child, which represents such a being.
  3. A masked dancer who represents such a being in a ceremonial dance or masked ceremony.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: kachina
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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