Situlili Kachina (Zuni Snake Racer) by Hopi carver Chester Poleyestewa. This 16” cottonwood root carving is fashioned in the old, traditional style.
A Situlili, or Snake Racer Kachina, is not a dancer or participant but a racer who runs races with the men and boys in the village. They usually appear in late spring, during a pause in a Mixed Dance.
Poleyestewa, Hopi carver, has been making Kachinas since he was a young boy. His Kachinas are made in the old, traditional manner using cottonwood roots. They are painted with natural dyes and mineral paints that he makes himself. The finishing touches are beautiful feathers, Angora goat hair and deerskin. Poleyestewa’s outstanding feather work makes him a favorite of collectors.
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About the artist
Poleyestewa
Poleyestewa is a Hopi Artist who carves only in the traditional style, a style that is more similar to that of kachinas of the early 1800’s: arms tucked close to the body and well thought out adornment. This differs from the intricately carved kachinas that are heavily carved with exaggerated motion.
A 3rd Mesa Hopi artist from the Hopi village of Hotevilla, this noted carver is deeply respectful of the traditions of his people. Poleyestewa's kachinas are carved from dead cottonwood root and are in the same style used by the Hopi people for past centuries. His tools are a flint knife and a potter’s polishing stone. Using old techniques, he makes natural vegetal dyes and mineral paints made of copper, choke cherry berries, alkaline, jet and coal ash for color and adding a temper to resist fading over time. With angola goat hair, doeskin and duck feathers, he completes the kachina. These katsina are the type still carved for Hopi children today and can stand alone or be hung on the wall.
He is a well-known carver whose work is enthusiastically sought after by collectors around the world. Barry Goldwater collected pieces by Poleyestewa’s father which he donated to the Heard Museum. Other collectors include: President George Bush, Lorne Greene, Wayne Newton, Larry Hageman, R.C.Gorman, the Bass Brothers of Texas, the late gallerist Elaine Horwich and Anselm Bischoff of Bischoff’s Gallery. Mr. Poleyestewa maintains close relationships with many collectors: one Wyoming rancher opens his property to Polyestewa for harvesting the cottonwood, another collector raises exotic birds such as macaws and parrots and sends him naturally shed, legal feathers.
Poleyestewa did not intend to follow in his father’s footsteps as a carver. He completed his studies at a Bureau of Indian Affairs school in Oklahoma then went on to Arizona State University to study communications and broadcast journalism. In a circuitous route he was lead back to his carving and his roots. None of his 3 sons carve and one is a broadcast journalist. Poleyestewa now enjoys the attention of his 13 grandchildren.
Bischoff’s Gallery is proud to represent these wonderful dolls and the gallery has the largest single display and offering of the 3 foot to 4 foot kachinas as well as his smaller dolls.
