HOPI KACHINA FIGURE

George Terasaki, New York, acquired in the 1970s

Alexandra Pascassio and George Terasaki, Kachina: George Terasaki Collection, Paris, 2008, n.p., cat. no. 8

Citulilu is a Zuni name for a Hopi kachina that frequently acts as a "guard" for Chief kachinas. He is distinctive for the rattlesnake painted across his forehead, as seen in the present example. Among the purposes of "guard" kachinas are protecting audience members from close proximity to the spiritual power of Chief kachinas, thus acting as a sort of barrier between the human and the divine.