The Kachina and the White Man: The Influences of White Culture on the Hopi Kachina Cult

First published in 1954, this fascinating study of the scope andcomplexity of the Kachina cult has for too long been out of print. Inthis revised edition, the author updates his rather gloomy predictionsof thirty years ago that the Kachina rituals were in danger of dying outbecause modern pressures seemed to be restricting their worship.Despite the continual pressures of modern and Anglo ways of life,however, Dockstader can happily report that the Kachina has made adramatic return and that Hopi religion remains a strong andmeaningful foundation of the culture. In fact, Dockstader observes,the appreciation of the ancient Hopi rituals and traditional customs"provides much of the glue holding together the whole Hopi world--and of this, the Kachina remains a major element."Although anthropologists have long tried to systematize and interpret the Hopi Kachina cult, it is Dockstader who has brought thematerial up to date, fit it into its historical perspective, and describedand explained the manifold symbols and designs from the viewpointof the Hopi artist. The author examines the effects of the currentsurge of tourist interest in Indian traditions, especially dances, andthe ever-growing art market interest in Kachina dolls. The influenceof commercialization is clear, and some of the effects are inevitablydeleterious. -"The book contains a wealth of information on general Hopi history and Hopi life."--Harold ColtonFREDERICK DOCKSTADER holds the Ph.D. in American Studiesfrom Western Reserve University. For twenty years he directed theMuseum of the American Indian in New York. He is not only acurator, ethnologist, and anthropologist, but also a recognized artistand silversmith and has written widely about North American Indianarts.