Hopi Kachina figure

Hopi katsina figures (Hopi language: tithu or katsintithu), also known as kachina dolls, are figures carved, typically from cottonwood root, by Hopi people to instruct young girls and new brides about katsinas or katsinam, the immortal beings that bring rain, control other aspects of the natural world and society, and act as messengers between humans and the spirit world.^[1]

These figures are still made and used within the Hopi community, while other katsina figures are carved and sold as artworks to the public. Other Pueblo peoples and later Navajo sculptors carve figures similar to katsina tihu as artworks.

Katsina is anglicized as kachina. Plurals are katsinam or kachinas.