HOPI KACHINA FIGURE

Joseph Jacinto Mora (1876-1947), Monterey, acquired when living near Oraibi between 1904-1906

Jo N. Mora Jr, Monterey, by descent from the above

George Terasaki, New York, acquired from the above in March, 1972

Alexandra Pascassio and George Terasaki, Kachina: George Terasaki Collection, Paris, 2008, n.p., cat. no. 33

In Hopi mythology, Tumas, alternatively known as Angwusnasomtaka, or "Crow Mother", is the mother of all kachinas. The distinctive serrated wings flanking her head recall the wings of a crow. "She appears during the Powamu or Bean Dance on all three mesas [...] During the Powamu she supervises the initiation of the children into the Kachina Cult and carries the yucca whips with which they are struck by the Hú [or hummingbird] Kachinas. Later in the same ceremony she leads other kachinas into the village bearing in her arms a basket of corn kernels and bean sprouts, to symbolically start the new season properly. This ceremony varies considerably from one mesa to another although the dolls do not." (Wright, Hopi Kachinas: The Complete Guide to Collecting Dolls, Flagstaff, 1977, p. 30)