I’m very honored that we have this important jar by Rainy Naha in the gallery.  She has entitled it, “Enduring Strength of Hopi Women”.  She says she made the jar to honor the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and as a way to continue to bring this issue to the public.  The jar has four different female kasinas.  Rainy says of them:

“The Crow Mother is the comforter and lecturer.  The Hahay-i wu-uti is the grandmother katsina and the mother of all katsinas.  The Soyok Whuti is the one who disciplines and corrects life. Finally, there is the He-e-e or the Warrior Maiden who is the defender of Hopi.  All these are together are the enduring strength of Hopi women.”  Rainy Naha

Each of the four katsinas is intricately painted on the surface of the jar.   Each of them is very intricately painted using bee-weed (black) and various colors of clay. They are stylized but complex with multiple layers of slip to create the imagery.  They are separated by elongated panels with a variety of Hopi-Tewa designs in a shawl pattern (note the tassel at the top).  All the various colors are derived from natural clay slips.  Rainy is well known for her use of different colors of clay on her pottery. The body of the piece is a white clay that is stone polished before it is painted. The jar was traditionally fired so there are light blushes on the surface.  It is signed on the bottom with a feather and “Rainy”.  Rainy has won numerous awards for her pottery at Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Market and her work continues to be a creative inspiration in Hopi-Tewa pottery.