View source for Kachina

== Kachina dolls ==
{{See also|Hopi Kachina figure}}
Kachina dolls are small brightly painted wooden "dolls" which are miniature representations of the masked impersonators. These figurines are given to children not as toys, but as objects to be treasured and studied so that the young Hopis may become familiar with the appearance of the kachinas as part of their religious training. During Kachina ceremonies, each child receives their own doll. The dolls are then taken home and hung up on the walls or from the rafters of the house, so that they can be constantly seen by the children. The purpose of this is to help the children learn to know what the different kachinas look like. It is said that the Hopi recognize over 200 kachinas and many more were invented in the last half of the nineteenth century. Among the Hopi, kachina dolls are traditionally carved by the maternal uncles and given to uninitiated girls at the Bean Dance (Spring Bean Planting Ceremony) and Home Dance Ceremony in the summer. These dolls are very difficult to classify not only because the Hopis have a vague idea about their appearance and function, but also because these ideas differ from mesa to mesa and pueblo to pueblo.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Colton|first1=Harold Sellers|url=https://archive.org/details/hopikachinadolls00colt_1|title=Hopi Kachina Dolls: with a Key to their Identification|date=1959|publisher=University of New Mexico Press|location=Albuquerque|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hopikachinadolls00colt_1/page/5 5–6]|isbn=978-0-8263-0180-2 |url-access=registration}}</ref>