kachina

English - English

Definition of kachina in English English dictionary: The masked dancers that represent the kachina supernaturals in ceremonial dances; The vaguely ancestral anthropomorphic entities ("raw people" in Zuni terminology) that are associated with clouds and rain, that personify the power in the sun, the earth, corn (among other things), that are responsible for rain production and crop welfare, that are impersonated in Puebloan kachina cult dances and masked ceremonies; A system or cult of (often secret) religious rituals and ceremonies involving masks and dances concerned with bringing rain and good crops and with community welfare and integration found in typically western Pueblo cultures in the North American Southwest; A deified ancestral spirit in the mythology of Pueblo Indians. - (also kachina dancer) a dancer representing such a spirit; {i} any of a number of ancestral spirits of the Hopi Indian tribe; Ancestral spirit of the Pueblo Indians. There are more than 500 of these spirits, who act as intermediaries between humans and the gods. Each tribe has its own kachinas, which are believed to reside with a tribe for half of each year. They can be seen by the community if men properly perform a ritual while wearing kachina masks. The spirit depicted on the mask is thought to be actually present with the performer, temporarily transforming him. Kachinas are also represented by small wooden dolls, carved and decorated by the men of the tribe
kachina doll: doll used by the Hopi Indians to represent their ancestral spirits