Product Description
This Poli or Butterfly Kachina was hand-carved by Hopi artist, Andrew Sahmie out of cottonwood root. Andrew Sahmie Butterfly Hopi Kachina
The Poli or Butterfly Kachina and his partner always appear together but only in the kiva during the Night Dance. The Poli Kachina is the male form of the Poli Mana, and in a reverse of the usual, he is less well-known than the Mana. He seems to appear solely on Third Mesa and may actually be a development of the Mesa. His partner looks almost exactly like the Palhik Mana, but does not serve quite the same function. This female kachina partner is portrayed by a man unlike the regular Palhik Mana who is a woman. The steps and postures of the Police Kachina and Mana, in fact the entire form of the dance, are very much like that of the more common social Butterfly Dance. Barton Wright, Kachinas: A Hopi Artist’s Documentary
