Squash Kachina, 1991
by Melson Harris, Hopi Pueblo
cottonwood root, pigment
12” high x 4.5” wide x 5” deep
Squash (Patung) is a Chief Kachina for the Pumpkin Clan. Much of the Hopi food comes from crops which they grow or gather themselves. Squash, corn and beans make up the traditional cultivated food of the Hopi people. This plant Kachina is important for in the arid land where the Hopi live, a Kachina that brings his own water is highly valued. The Squash Kachina is a runner Kachina and is always in the footraces in the summer on the mesas.
