One of the great joys of our wholesale buying trips on the Hopi Reservatoin is the chance to pick up brilliant new Kachinas. A knowledgble merchant informed me that the Warrior Mouse Kachina, popular with collectors around the world, is not a true Kachina because he does not appear in real life Hopi ceremonies. Nonetheless, the Warrior Mouse is an important Hopi figure especially popular with the children. The story of this hero mouse is said to have originated in the 2nd Mesa village of Misongnovi. The short story version is that Warrior Mouse saved the village from relentless predatory chicken kills of a ever hungry Hawk after all other efforts by the village people had failed. The little mouse killed the this bird of prey by cleverly arranging a trap that led to the Hawk impaling himself on Warrior Mouse's sharp spear. It is hard to see in these two images but Warrior Mouse is wearning a Ketoh (bow guard) on his left wrist and a turquoise bracelet on his right. I bought this piece, which eventually go to my Grandson Bodhi (now just 2.5 weeks old), directly from the artist. I featured a sterling silver pendant version of the Warrior Mouse in this blog of 1/19/2008.Sunday, April 18, 2010
Hopi Warrior Mouse
One of the great joys of our wholesale buying trips on the Hopi Reservatoin is the chance to pick up brilliant new Kachinas. A knowledgble merchant informed me that the Warrior Mouse Kachina, popular with collectors around the world, is not a true Kachina because he does not appear in real life Hopi ceremonies. Nonetheless, the Warrior Mouse is an important Hopi figure especially popular with the children. The story of this hero mouse is said to have originated in the 2nd Mesa village of Misongnovi. The short story version is that Warrior Mouse saved the village from relentless predatory chicken kills of a ever hungry Hawk after all other efforts by the village people had failed. The little mouse killed the this bird of prey by cleverly arranging a trap that led to the Hawk impaling himself on Warrior Mouse's sharp spear. It is hard to see in these two images but Warrior Mouse is wearning a Ketoh (bow guard) on his left wrist and a turquoise bracelet on his right. I bought this piece, which eventually go to my Grandson Bodhi (now just 2.5 weeks old), directly from the artist. I featured a sterling silver pendant version of the Warrior Mouse in this blog of 1/19/2008.
