Katsina & Kokko Carved Figures

This collection consists of more than 600 figures primarily from Hopi and Zuni, including 100 figures collected by Henry R. Voth, a Mennonite missionary and ethnographer who lived at Hopi in the 1890s. The Hopi figures are properly referred to as tihü, while the people of Zuni Pueblo refer to their carvings as kokkos.

In 2009, IARC staff worked with official representatives from the Zuni Tribe to review the 38 kokkos in the collection to correct any misinformation in our records and to obtain the appropriate Zuni names for each kokko. This work is part of a larger project to systematically review the entire Zuni collection at IARC.

IARC recognizes the cultural sensitivity of katsina and kokko images and carvings to members of specific Native communities, such as the Pueblos of New Mexico. We respect their beliefs and attempt to balance them with Hopi and Zuni perspective on the availability of these carvings in their communities, museums, and the art market.

Hemiskatsina.