denver museum of nature & science annals

142 Pages·2011·6.54 MB·English

DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls
Number 2, april 15, 2011
lost in Translation:
rethinking Hopi Katsina Tithu and
museum language Systems
rachel e. maxson
Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh
lee Wayne lomayestewa
http://www.dmns.org/learn/bailey-library-and-archives
The Denver museum of Nature & Science annals Frank Krell, phD, editor-in-Chief
is an open-access, peer-reviewed scientific
journal publishing original papers in the fields Editorial Board:
of anthropology, geology, paleontology, botany, Kenneth Carpenter, phD (subject editor,
zoology, space and planetary sciences, and health paleontology and Geology)
sciences. papers are either authored by DmNS bridget Coughlin, phD (subject editor,
staff, associates, or volunteers, deal with DmNS Health Sciences)
specimens or holdings, or have a regional focus on John Demboski, phD (subject editor,
the rocky mountains/Great plains ecoregions. Vertebrate Zoology)
David Grinspoon, phD (subject editor,
The journal is available online at www.dmns.org/ Space Sciences)
learn/bailey-library-and-archives free of charge. Frank Krell, phD (subject editor, invertebrate
paper copies are exchanged via the DmNS library Zoology)
exchange program ([email protected]) or Steve Nash, phD (subject editor, anthropology
are available for purchase from our print-on-demand and archaeology)
publisher lulu (www.lulu.com). DmNS owns the
copyright of the works published in the annals, Editorial and Production:
which are published under the Creative Commons betsy r. armstrong: project manager,
attribution Non-Commercial license. For commercial production editor
use of published material contact Kris Haglund, ann W. Douden: design, production
alfred m. bailey library & archives (kris.haglund@ Faith marcovecchio: copyeditor, proofreader
dmns.org).
DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls
Number 2, april 15, 2011
lost in Translation:
rachel e. maxson1,
Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh2, rethinking Hopi Katsina Tithu and
and museum language Systems
lee Wayne lomayestewa3
Abstract—Museums collect and care for material culture, and,
increasingly, intangible culture. This relatively new term for the
folklore, music, dance, traditional practices, and language belonging
to a group of people is gaining importance in international heritage
management discourse. As one aspect of intangible cultural heritage,
language is more relevant in museums than has been previously
acknowledged. Incorporating native languages into museum anthro-
pology collections provides context and acts as a form of “appropriate
museology,” preserving indigenous descriptions and conceptions of
objects. This report presents the ways in which Hopi katsina tithu—
1D epartment of Anthropology, Denver Museum of popularly known as kachina dolls—are outstanding examples of
Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, objects that museums can recontextualize with Native terminology.
Colorado 80205, U.S.A. [email protected] The etymology, or a word or phrase’s use history, of each katsina tihu’s
name documents the deep connection of these objects with Hopi
2D epartment of Anthropology, Denver Museum of belief, ritual, and history. Without including the complex practices of
Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, Hopi naming, documentation of these objects in museum catalogues
Colorado 80205, U.S.A. [email protected] is often incomplete and inaccurate. Using contemporary Hopi per-
spectives, historic ethnographies, and the Hopi Dictionary to create a
3H opi Cultural Preservation Office, 1 Main database of Hopi katsina tithu names, this project demonstrates how
St., Kykotsmovi, Arizona 86039, U.S.A. museums might incorporate intangible heritage into their collections
[email protected] through language and etymological context.
DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls | No. 2, april 15, 2011 1
maxson et al.
Kachina dolls are familiar Native American museum In museum collections, the nomenclature embed-
objects. They appear in art galleries and anthropology ded in classificatory systems is especially important.
exhibits alike, but they are often misrepresented, mis- The terms in a museum catalogue come from scholarly
identified, and misunderstood. Even the term kachina discourse, and occasionally consultation with descen-
leads to confusion; it is an Anglicized spelling of the dant communities. Such terms can either radically alter
Hopi word katsina (singular) or katsinam (plural). In the objects’ meanings or preserve the objects’ intended
the Hopi worldview, katsinam take on three different cultural symbolic meanings. If anthropology collec-
forms: they are ancestral beings in the spirit world tions aspire to record the intended cultural meanings
who bless the land with moisture, they are the spirits of objects, it is therefore important that museum
that present themselves at the Hopi Mesas each year in nomenclature adequately capture the knowledge and
ceremonies, and they are representations in different context encoded in the correct language.
artistic media, namely, the wooden figurines known to Hopi katsina tithu are one example of objects
most non-Puebloan people as kachina dolls. Ancestor whose diverse range of names have not been fully
spirits, rain and snow, dancers, and figurines embody- documented by museums. These names have complex
ing those spirits are all katsinam for Hopis. etymologies (a word or phrase’s use history) and can
In their own language, Hopis refer to the be descriptive or more subtly indicative of their origins
figurines that line museum shelves and galleries not within a Hopi clan or another indigenous group. They
as kachina dolls but katsina tihu (singular) or tithu also carry the interpretations of anthropologists who
(plural), and sometimes as katsintithu. Katsina tithu first wrote down the names, capturing their sound
were traditionally given as ceremonial gifts. Over the on paper with orthography (the method of writing
course of the twentieth century, tithu, a unique form words and spelling). Museum records should contain
of Hopi aesthetic expression, have become popular as much information as possible about each tihu, for
tourist commodities. The shift of katsina to kachina, katsina tithu are powerful symbols of Hopi culture,
and tithu to doll, signals a significant alteration of evoking the spirits they portray and the importance of
these objects’ cultural meanings—from ritual object those spirits to the Hopi. Including culturally derived
given as a gift to a commodity that can be bought information avoids disconnecting tithu from their
and sold. The term kachina has undergone both a original contexts. Historical and cultural context is
material and a linguistic transformation; its meaning traceable etymologically to the people each katsina
has changed to include objects to which it did not came from, the role it played in Pueblo society, and
originally refer. Anthropologists, curators, collec- how anthropologists have interpreted it through time.
tors, and artists have reinterpreted katsina tithu over In this way, tracing an object’s etymology is akin to
time, and the term kachina itself is symbolic of this tracing an object’s provenance in the art world.
transformation. One major benefit of including this type of infor-
Kachinas have significantly different meanings mation is a more diachronic perspective of the complex
to those outside Pueblo cultures, non-Puebloan people relationship between historical processes, cultural
who typically learn about kachinas from museums, interaction, and beliefs, all of which language change
popular literature, or the media. Popular perception documents. Museum curators and collection managers
of katsinam has its roots in early anthropological must acknowledge that they not only house objects
literature, which first recorded Hopi katsina names, and present them to the public, but also that they
symbolic meanings, and ritual roles. Along with have stewardship obligations to preserve the knowl-
these founding ethnographies, evolving katsina tithu edge and histories embedded within those objects.
production by Native artists has helped shape contem- Additionally, it is crucial that museums document
porary interpretations. etymological background of indigenous terminology
2 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls | No. 2, april 15, 2011
rethinking Hopi Katsina Tithu and museum language Systems
in their collections, because languages are a primary with collections of cultural objects. In this work, we
source of material for cultural revitalization. seek to show how indigenous languages in museum
This report presents a research project that collections are potentially a useful resource for mul-
sought to connect Hopi katsina tithu in the Denver tiple stakeholders.
Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) to their lin- The right to maintain language as part of
guistic histories. The entry point for this research was a intangible cultural heritage, as Peter Whiteley (2003)
data-entry project at the DMNS that involved adding discusses, and the ways museums have already incorpo-
katsina names from a Hopi cultural advisor (Lee rated indigenous languages into their collections link
Wayne Lomayestewa) and the Hopi Dictionary (Hill the importance of language to cultural preservation.
et al. 1998) to Argus, the DMNS digital catalogue For these reasons it is important to explore heritage
program. During the course of this project, notewor- preservation in museums as well as language’s current
thy intersections between language documentation status in collection nomenclature. While many of these
and museum curation began to emerge. Specifically, issues are seemingly abstract, they do have practical
this data-entry project inspired reflections on how implications. Linguistically contextualizing objects,
museums with material collections from indigenous such as katsina tithu, impacts scholarly discourse on
people and linguists studying indigenous languages are those objects and the cultures they come from, which
both concerned with cultural preservation, retention, in turn shapes how the public, artists, and students
and revitalization. For both curators and linguists, perceive and understand objects. Museums can perpet-
collaboration with Native people optimizes sensitivity uate incomplete terminology and inaccurate portraits
and understanding. Also, this project illuminated how of cultures—or they can positively change the way we
what one lacks the other has in abundance. Linguists speak and think about objects and the people who
are primarily concerned with intangible culture; made them.
museums are primarily concerned with tangible Accurately and sensitively documenting and
culture. Neither taken alone can give a holistic view representing culture through material collections is an
of cultural practices. Thus, combining language from ongoing process in museums. Today, anthropological
lexical studies (like the Hopi Dictionary) with objects discourse, museum records, and the art market often
in museums (like katsina tithu) expands the meaning propagate simplified and inaccurate interpretations of
of these objects to include the diverse worldviews that katsinam and katsina tithu. We take this problem as
words encode in objects. the central concern in this research project and seek
In this research project, we draw from several to demonstrate how museums can begin to remedy
fields of study that are not often combined. Linguis- this situation by expanding linguistic information
tics and museum theory are typically only brought in museum collections. This expanded information
together in analyses that examine cultural revitaliza- includes terminological variety, etymologies, citations
tion movements and tribal community museums. from scholarly literature, indigenous interpretations,
For example, Erikson’s (2002) book on the Makah and up-to-date spellings based on how the language is
Cultural and Research Center is one such ethnogra- used today.
phy, with language figuring prominently in the Native Important aspects of Hopi culture are encoded
group’s stewardship of their material heritage. Our in the language, whether in the words themselves, their
project relates to these kinds of analyses, but applies to pragmatic meaning, or their origin. Borrowed terms,
all museums with anthropological collections. While altered forms, and evolving meanings exemplify Hopi
undoubtedly this project’s findings are primarily useful cultural hybridity, an idea best emphasized in material
to the DMNS, the larger theoretical claims and meth- collections that document linguistic etymology. An
odological processes can be a model for all museums inventory of known katsina names and corresponding
DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls | No. 2, april 15, 2011 3
maxson et al.
etymological data provides information on cultural Office, Lomayestewa reviewed every Hopi katsina
context and sacredness when coupled with consulta- tihu in the DMNS collection, giving his opinion on
tion with elders and other cultural experts from source whether the museum catalogue had the correct name
communities, allowing the museum to remain sensitive and whether the katsina warranted special care as a
to issues of sacred knowledge and intellectual property, sacred object. There were two levels of sacredness.
and also to serve as a resource for intangible heritage Lomayestewa indicated that some katsinam should not
preservation. Caring for indigenous languages as part of be displayed in the museum while others should be kept
intangible cultural heritage is the branch of linguistics in a special room as well. Lomayestewa often disagreed
with the most compelling stake in museums. The con- with the museum’s classifications. He offered the names
nection between the museum collections and language he was familiar with, pointed out katsinam that were
preservation can perhaps best be seen through the field Zuni rather than Hopi, and provided names for some
of lexicography, or dictionary making. Based on linguis- katsinam that were unclassified in the catalogue (Table
tic research and case studies like the Makah Cultural 1). Maxson consolidated Lomayestewa’s contributions
and Research Center, we argue that museum collections into a spreadsheet and added the spelling and definition
should ideally be categorized in the objects’ vernacular; of each katsina name from the Hopi Dictionary.
that is, Hopi objects should be called by their Hopi Lomayestewa’s contribution demonstrated that
names and organized based on Hopi thought. the museum catalogue was incorrect in many instances.
However, there are major limitations to creating any
single and complete classificatory system. As the
Research Methods and Questions
anthropologist J. Walter Fewkes observed more than
In January of 2008, Rachel Maxson began a data- a century ago, such classification is as challenging as it
entry project to organize and expand information is important:
about Hopi katsina tithu in the DMNS. The museum
had already consulted with Hopi cultural advisor Lee The classification of katcinas by names leads
Wayne Lomayestewa the previous year. A Bear Clan to important results, but the nomenclature,
member from Songòopavi, Second Mesa, and a rep- for many reasons, is often deceptive. The
resentative of the Hopi Tribe’s Cultural Preservation same god may have several attributal or clan
Table 1. Summary of changes of tithu recommended by Lee Wayne Lomayestewa.
New Name Alternate Alternate Name Not Hopi Sacred/
(misclassified Spelling Name Unknown Do Not Show
or unclassified)
Number of 30 6 6 6 10 27
Occurrences
Note: The “Name unknown” column represents instances where lomayestewa was unfamiliar with the
name in the DmNS catalogue and did not know what to call the katsina himself. The “Sacred/Do Not
Show” column includes katsina tithu that lomayestewa identified as sacred figures that should be housed
separately from the rest of the collection and also those figures that he did not consider sacred per se but
which he requested the museum not display out of respect for Hopi traditions, such as a Tsaaveyo and an
unfinished palhikwmana.
4 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls | No. 2, april 15, 2011
rethinking Hopi Katsina Tithu and museum language Systems
names which have survived from the different is based on Colton’s classificatory system—does not
languages spoken originally by component capture the varied nomenclature, unique dialects, and
clans of the tribe. Certain peculiarities of pragmatic meanings associated with the katsina tithu
song or step by the personator, or a marked or in the collection. By recording anglicized spellings and
striking symbol on his paraphernalia, may have relying on Colton’s classificatory system in the current
given a name having no relation to the spirit Argus database, the museum has distanced the tithu
personated. Keeping this fact in mind, and from their symbolic meanings within Hopi belief and
remembering the permanency of symbols and practice (Hein 2000). Lost in translation from Hopi
the changeability of nomenclature, we are able culture through ethnographers, then misrecorded
to discover the identity of personages bearing in museum catalogues, the katsina names in Argus
wildly different names. (Fewkes 1903: 20) capture little of their indigenous meaning systems. Ety-
mological information such as which clan the katsina
Perhaps the first limitation is the sheer quantity came from, as well as the name’s semantic and prag-
and variety of katsinam. With so many figures varying matic meanings, would be revealed in an indigenous
in minute physical details, and with multiple names classificatory system. This historical linguistic perspec-
for a single figure, properly identifying and interpret- tive—the indigenous voice—is absent in the DMNS
ing each katsina is problematic. Another limitation collection catalogue.
is that the anglicized spellings of words originally These observations inspire questions about how
spoken but never written are often drastically differ- katsina nomenclature in museums intersects with
ent from the Third Mesa dialect spelling in the Hopi indigenous curation, which is defined as “non-Western
Dictionary. Emory Sekaquaptewa and Kenneth Hill’s models of museums, curatorial methods, and concepts
Hopi Dictionary Project, which resulted in the Hopi of cultural heritage preservation” (Kreps 2008b:
Dictionary (Hill et al. 1998), was based on Third 194). Indigenous curation applies to the katsina
Mesa Hopi pronunciations and nuanced meanings. names because indigenous language use in museum
Lomayestewa’s Second Mesa Hopi differed slightly collections is a method for curation and collections
from the dictionary variation, further complicating management that incorporates the notion of intangible
the ideal of creating a single classificatory system. cultural heritage preservation. To enlarge the DMNS
Moreover, sometimes the dictionary simply defines catalogue by incorporating the etymology of each
the term as “A katsina,” a definition left intention- katsina name—that is, to document each word’s origin,
ally vague in order to protect sacred and proprietary evolving meanings, and shifting social context through
knowledge (Frawley et al. 2002). Colton’s (1959) the lens of historical linguistics (Trask 1996: 345)—is
typology was just as unreliable; his classifications often to work toward what we call an expanded lexicon. This
described the katsina tithu physically and categorized broader lexicon includes more names than the original
each according to a non-Hopi typology. Additionally, museum database, as well as an expanded amount of
as with most anthropology museum professionals, information about each object’s name.
neither Maxson nor Colwell-Chanthaphonh speak or Based on these ideas, four research questions
write the Hopi language. underpin this project: (1) What were the results
By comparing Lomayestewa’s identifications of other case studies of indigenous language use in
with the DMNS catalogue, the Hopi Dictionary, and museum collections?, (2) What are the variations of
Colton’s typology, it becomes apparent that the katsina katsina names and terminology that anthropologists
names and interrelated identities are more numer- and others studying the Hopi have collected?, (3)
ous and diverse than they are depicted to be in any What do these variations in terminology reveal about
one source. The current museum catalogue—which Hopi culture? and, (4) How can historical linguistic
DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls | No. 2, april 15, 2011 5
maxson et al.
knowledge be incorporated into a museum collection dominated anthropology and museums throughout
in a useful way for Hopi cultural preservation? the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Incorporating indigenous voices into curatorial Language as a frame for understanding and
practices has become increasingly popular in recent interpreting the world has slipped out of the “four
years, but language is largely absent from this process. field” approach to American anthropology (Adams
This is perhaps due to the predominantly oral nature 1993; Geertz 1991; Parker 1993). Museums are an
of Native languages. Linguists compiling early lexi- ideal interface for reintegrating language and mate-
cons and creating alphabets to write Native American rial culture. They rely heavily on what is written, and
languages encountered the same problem. Document- increasingly spoken, by indigenous consultants about
ing sounds and meanings that existed only in spoken their collections for interpretation. Museums also clas-
words and thought challenges linguists’ ability to accu- sify and organize objects, changing their meanings as
rately capture a language’s complexities. The resulting they necessarily decontextualize them from their origi-
lexicons, alphabets, and dictionaries must make sense nal use and recontextualize them in distant institutions
to indigenous speakers in order to be user friendly (Bruchac 2010; Hein 2000). These classification
and relevant. The most successful projects of this type systems often lack relevance for the people connected
have been collaborative, and therefore parallel co- to the objects; language can bring back contextual
curation by involving indigenous people with exhibit relevance by structuring classification around etymo-
development and collections care in museums (Hinton logically encoded meanings.
1993). Strikingly, the creation of a dictionary directly At the methodological center of this project to
parallels the creation of a museum collection. The rethink museological language systems was the work of
representation of a complex language in a dictionary assembling an expanded lexicon for the katsina tithu at
is analogous to the representation of a complex culture DMNS. Variations in katsina names could come from
in a museum: dictionaries curate words like museums several sources, some more appropriate to this project
curate objects. This research project seeks to under- than others. First, Lee Wayne Lomayestewa, as a
stand how by connecting the current form of the Hopi member of the Hopi Tribe, a Native speaker, and a rep-
language back to objects we may synthesize concepts resentative of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office,
formerly relegated to two separate kinds of collections: provided knowledge about the katsina tithu. Building
dictionaries (words) and museums (objects). from Lomayestewa’s contribution, Maxson worked to
Similarities between curating words in a diction- integrate historic Hopi ethnographies and contem-
ary and curating objects in a museum supplemented porary work by indigenous scholars and non-Hopi
this investigation of indigenous language use in anthropologists. This method allowed us to gather
museums. Theories behind both overlapped and names from myriad sources and address another impor-
presented a useful comparison for understanding intan- tant concept: the history of discourse on katsinam
gible culture. Examining parallels between dictionary within anthropology and its relevance to museums.
making and anthropological collections curation leads This discourse includes inventories of katsinam com-
to an argument for recombining material culture with piled by ethnographers over the last two centuries and
intangible culture. This process has already taken the continued deployment of certain terms in these
place in some museums, as James Clifford (1997: ethnographies. Several Native scholars such as Emory
237) notices in the U’mista Cultural Centre’s use as a Sekaquaptewa problematize these anthropological
traditional performance venue and in Richard Kurin’s perspectives on their traditions (Whiteley 2001).
(1991) account of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival However, various classificatory systems pervade the
exhibitions of Indian folklife. It involves breaking katsina literature and museum documentation. Less
down colonialist perspectives on Native peoples that common names and names for katsinam not typically
6 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls | No. 2, april 15, 2011
rethinking Hopi Katsina Tithu and museum language Systems
represented in museum collections therefore fall out ceremony. There are therefore multiple entries for the
of use in academic settings. These names are present same katsina, with variations in the ceremony field.
in early ethnographies, which attribute them to key The spreadsheet also lists the Hopi Dictionary name
Hopi traditional knowledge keepers. Anthropologists and definition for each katsina, as well as the name
who integrated linguistics into their ethnographic currently in the DMNS catalogue. Last, it includes any
work made a point of collecting the large variety of clan or indigenous group association that the source
katsina names they encountered, as they were often refers to and the publication year for each source eth-
simultaneously developing systems for writing the nography. The clan or group association was not always
Hopi language. Common spellings for katsina names listed in the various sources, so this field is blank for
therefore originate with these collections. Gathering many katsinam. Of note, given the complexity of this
katsina names from past research is therefore useful data collection process, the Appendix should be read as
for the expanded lexicon, because it provides a historic preliminary and provisional.
perspective on how the current lexicon was formed. Material from the DMNS is the central reference
In order to capture a historical perspective and point for this analysis. We compare the inventory of
show the proliferation of established nomenclature katsina names and etymologies from the sources listed
into scholarly discourse, names were gathered from above to the DMNS catalogue in order to discover
several early ethnographies and more contemporary how much of this information the catalogue holds and
works (Fewkes 1903; Secakuku 2001; Sekaquaptewa how much it could hold. Given that the DMNS has
& Washburn 2006; Stephen 1936; Voth 1905; Wright 259 tithu representing a variety of distinct katsinam,
1977), as well as from the Smithsonian Museum of comparison to a diverse list of katsinam names reveals
Natural History (using its online catalogue system).1 the number of alternate names the catalogue could
No katsina scholarship is without bias or include, as well as the etymological information associ-
imperfections. Careful scrutiny and a discussion of ated with those names.
each source’s drawbacks are therefore included in After collecting scores of katsina names from the
this report. Incorporating a variety of Native and sources described above, Maxson created a searchable
non-Native accounts of katsina tradition over time database with OpenOffice, a relatively simple open
is appropriate for the research questions because source program. Using this database, Maxson ran
it accesses linguistic information from multiple queries to find matching names for the same katsina
sources, allowing us to observe important differences in multiple sources and then separated the findings
or similarities and outline the diffusion of katsinam into tables from which queries and forms for process-
throughout the Puebloan world. ing the data were created. One master table was made
Based on the DMNS information, source mate- of all the names from the four source ethnographers:
rial, and the research questions, Maxson created Fewkes, Stephen, Voth, and Wright. Another table
a spreadsheet to organize data from each source held the original data from the DMNS catalogue,
(Appendix). This spreadsheet includes a column for including dictionary entries and Colton’s typological
the katsina source name, Hopi Dictionary definition, numbers. Later, a third table was added containing the
and the ceremony the katsina appeared in according information from the Smithsonian’s online database.
to a particular source. Many katsinam appear in mul- This method of organizing findings allowed us to easily
tiple ceremonies throughout the year. They may take view all the katsinam from a given source, the different
slightly different forms with varying dress, markings, permutations of a katsina name across sources, and the
and behavior depending on the mesa, village, and katsinam most often listed and defined in ethnogra-
phies and the Hopi Dictionary. Names sometimes differ
1 http://collections.nmnh.si.edu/anthroDBintro.html. (Accessed
only in spelling. In other instances, multiple names for
November 2009–February 2010)
DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls | No. 2, april 15, 2011 7
maxson et al.
the same katsina are orthographically and semantically document the Hopi language and what anthropolo-
different. In some of these cases, it was important to gists learned about katsina names.
attempt to discover the etymology of these alternate Museum theory pertaining to collaboration and
names in order to piece together the katsina’s story and co-curation is a means of understanding and apply-
complex meaning in Hopi belief. ing information about the Hopi language to museum
The investigations we undertook organizing and catalogues. There are specific examples of indigenous
processing the data tested the usefulness and potential language use in museum collections as well as more
contribution of this kind of detailed nomenclature to general writing on the reasons behind, benefits of,
a museum catalogue. Information from the katsina and difficulties with orienting museums toward
name database could eventually be integrated into the serving and representing living cultures. We also draw
main catalogue if lexicon controls permitted, but this theoretical and practical parallels between museum
approach also established the possibility of a simple, collection curation and dictionary writing in order to
external database supplementing a main catalogue. This argue for synthesized linguistic and tangible heritage
external database allows users to search the katsina tithu preservation.
collection based on a diverse selection of names. It also
links related terms and provides etymological informa- Katsina Beliefs
tion when available. An advantage of a separate database Tithu, and the living spirits they represent, have long
is that it is easier to make available online; some major fascinated outsiders. The ethnographic literature on
databases such as Argus are not easily transferred to katsinam dates back to the late nineteenth century.
online systems. Thus those interested specifically in Since then, katsina tithu have become tourist memo-
katsina tithu could access the catalogue and associated rabilia and popular art pieces. Hopi and non-Hopi
name inventory from anywhere. While the simple data- artists alike create grandly artistic tithu that are sold
base could be expanded to many applications and levels on the open art market—objects that sometimes bear
of access, we did not choose to pursue these steps for little resemblance to the figures traditionally given as
this research project. Rather, we carried out the first few gifts from the ancestors.
steps toward an expanded lexicon of katsinam names in The history of Hopi settlement and migration
order to demonstrate one potential arena for intangible clearly shows the effects of interaction with nearby
linguistic knowledge in a museum. groups on Hopi katsina practices (Adams 1991; Brew
1979; Whiteley 2001). In Hopi traditional history, the
Hopi people emerged onto this earth and then began a
Hopi Culture and Katsinam
long migration; the people coalesced into clans and con-
This project engages three areas of the anthropological tinued their sojourn, settling one village after another
literature as background and primary material. The (Kuwanwisiwma & Ferguson 2004). Finally, the clans
first covers Hopi culture, specifically the katsina reli- arrived at the Hopi Mesas (Fig. 1), bringing with them
gion, and includes the cultural context described in rituals and ceremonies obtained in different parts of the
the ethnographic sources of katsina terminology. We Southwest. As a result, the repertoire of katsinam on the
also use the literature to survey Puebloan languages’ Hopi Mesas represents centuries of cultural exchange, a
historical interrelatedness and their present form. history that the katsina names encode.
Reviewing linguistic theory and analyses of Hopi is A carved wooden figure traditionally given to
critical to understanding the derivation of katsina young girls during ceremonies is known as a tihu,
names and provides insight into how katsinam were meaning “doll.” The Hopi word tihu simply describes
understood by the people who named them. This the kachina doll, but is also a term that means “child,
domain overlaps with the ethnographic accounts that daughter, son, offspring,” which extends to “a child
8 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE AnnAls | No. 2, april 15, 2011