Vtg The Kachina and the White Man: The and similar items

First published in 1954, this fascinating study of the scope and complexity of the Kachina cult has for too long been out of print. In this revised edition, the author updates his rather gloomy predictions of thirty years ago that the Kachina rituals were in danger of dying out because 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 a dramatic return and that Hopi religion remains a strong and meaningful 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 the material up to date, fit it into its historical perspective, and described and explained the manifold symbols and designs from the viewpoint of the Hopi artist. The author examines the effects of the current surge of tourist interest in Indian traditions, especially dances, and the ever-growing art market interest in Kachina dolls. The influence of commercialization is clear, and some of the effects are inevitably deleterious. ?The book contains a wealth of information on general Hopi history and Hopi life."?-Harold Colton FREDERICK DOCKSTADER holds the Ph.D. in American Studies from Western Reserve University. For twenty years he directed the Museum of the American Indian in New York. He is not only a curator, ethnologist, and anthropologist, but also a recognized artist and silversmith and has written widely about North American Indian arts.