Page 95 - TheHopiIndians

MESA POLK OP HOPILAND 87

the carved wooden figures painted in bright colors
and decorated with feathers, etc., that hang from the
rafters of the houses. "Dolls," they are usually
called, but the Hopi know that they are representa
tions of the spiritual beings who live in the unseen
world, and a great variety there is of them. Thou
sands of these figures are made by the Hopi, many
to be sold to visitors, a thing no Zufii would do, be
cause in that pueblo these images have a religious char
acter and are hidden away, while the Hopi decorate
the houses with them.
The carvers of these strange figurines must be grant
ed the possession of much skill and ability in their
art, which is carried on with a few simple tools. The
country far and near is ransacked for cottonwood,
this being the wood prescribed for masks, dolls, prayer-
sticks, etc. The soft cottonwood, especially the root,
is easily worked with the dull knives that the Hopi
possess. On every hand is soft, coarse sandstone for
rubbing the wood into shape, and much of the work is
not only finished, but formed by this means. For
this reason the rocks around a Hopi village are cov
ered with grooves and pits left by the workers in
wood.
If any parts, such as ears, hair, whorls, etc., are to
be added to the figures, they are pegged on quite in
securely. Some of the terraces which surmount the
kuchma masks are remarkable structures built up of
wood pegged together. A little string, a few twigs