Kachinas in the Pueblo world

Polly Schaafsma

The Kachina, or rain deity, stands at the center of the Pueblo Indian religious experience. In the Pueblo belief, the kachina is responsible for the tribe's very survival, for without his intervention the crops will not grow, the cisterns will not be filled, the rivers will not flow. In Kachinas in the Pueblo World, fourteen noted scholars, among them Fred Eggan, J. J. Brody, and Dennis Tedlock, examine the role of the kachina in the cultures of the Rio Grande, Zuni, and Hopi pueblos. They trace the figure of the kachina to a Mesoamerican original, look at the fortunes of the rain deities after the Spanish and subsequent Anglo conquests of the Pueblo homeland, discuss the transition of the kachina doll from religious object to art, and consider the role of the kachina in allowing elements of Puebloan belief to endure in the modern world. This stimulating collection of essays and...

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