Hopi & Zuni Katsina Traditions
A closed ceremonial calendar of the Pueblo Southwest
Documented from public record; Hopi Tribe and Pueblo of Zuni hold authority over their ceremonies
The tradition
Across the Hopi mesas of northern Arizona and at Zuni Pueblo in western New Mexico, the Katsina (Hopi) or Koko (Zuni) ceremonies structure the religious year. From roughly the winter solstice to midsummer, the Katsinam — hundreds of distinct spirit beings, each with its own form, song and role — are present in the villages, embodied by initiated men who have prepared in the kivas, the underground ceremonial chambers. In long, precisely ordered plaza dances the Katsinam bring rain to a desert farming people, carry prayers, discipline and instruct the young, and renew the balance between the village and the wider world; the carved tihu figures given to children are teaching images of these beings, not idols or toys. This is a complete, living religion, not a folk performance, and most of it is closed: the kiva rites are restricted to initiates, and through the twentieth century the Hopi in particular closed their ceremonies to non-Hopi spectators after decades in which outsiders photographed, recorded and sold the sacred for profit and souvenirs. Photography, recording and sketching are forbidden, and many dances are now witnessed only by the people themselves. Zuni has at times allowed outsiders to observe certain dances, again without any photography. Wesaka documents the tradition at the level of public knowledge only, drawing on what the nations and the public record already make known, and defers entirely to Hopi and Zuni authority over what may be seen, said or shown.
On the public record
What is public: that these ceremonies exist, their broad purpose, and the nations' own firm rules. What is closed: the ceremonies themselves to non-members, the kiva rites entirely, and any photography, recording or sketching of the dances or the villages. There is nothing here to attend or request — this page exists so the tradition is known to exist and so its custodians can speak for it if they choose.