HALLEY'S COMET AND THE ORIGIN OF THE STAR KACHINA:

The period around ca. AD 1300 was a time of upheaval in the Rio Grande valley area with the migration of Anasazi in from the four-corners area to the northwest, which was being abandoned due to drought.  Such periods of social change are often periods of intellectual change as well as people strive to adapt their beliefs and understandings to the new conditions.

In late summer AD 1301 there was a spectacular appearance of Halley's Comet in the skies. Other spectacular comet appearances that were recorded from about that time in European or Chinese records, or both, date from AD 1264, AD 1299, and AD 1337, but the AD 1301 appearance of Halley's Comet may have been the most spectacular. Descriptions indicate that its tail was impressively long, it is estimated to have subtended an angle of as much as 70º across the sky.

Hopi Nangasohu Kachina, Star or Chasing-Planet Kachina.

From Hopi Kachinas, Barton Wright, 1977, Northland Press,

Flagstaff. Four-pointed star painted on front of case mask,

and feathered ruff headdress representing eagle tail.

The Hopi Nangasohu Kachina, the Chasing Star or Meteor Kachina of Oraibi is pictured wearing a case mask with a big star across the front and a ruff of eagle feathers across the top.   This combines two related sky concepts into one: the star of the night sky and the eagle, beast god of the above. Both of these themes can be identified in rock art of the Anasazi and their merging can be followed in rock art of the upper Rio Grande. The Hopi word nanga means "to pursue" and sohu means "star." A beautiful figure, Na-ngasohu appears in the Bean Dance Procession and carries a bell in his right hand.  He wears a large eagle plume fan behind his head.

Galisteo, NM. Star Petroglyph with facial features, Eagle tail, and 
eagle's taloned legs added. This represents a fusion of the star theme
with the sky theme of the Eagle. Photo: Peter Faris, 1988.

The cruciform or four-pointed star is found throughout North America and innumerable examples are illustrated in rock art. These examples range from the simplest pair of crossed lines to more ornate examples, some with single or even double outlines. The variation developed by the Anasazi of the Rio Grande area portrays each arm of the star as a triangle with their bases coming together in the center as do the arms of our traditional five-pointed star. This center was often portrayed with a circle inside it which, in turn, was frequently converted to a simple face by the addition of marks representing two eyes and a mouth.

The added facial features imply personification, the star is not just a light in the sky - it is now a being. It would seem only natural to identify the star as a sky spirit and perhaps various star portrayals were considered by their creators to portray various spirits or deities from their pantheon.

With the important position that the eagle held among these sky-related beings it would only seem natural to find examples of stars combined with the characteristics of eagles.  Examples show the star with facial features and legs ending in eagle talons. Further examples add the eagle's tail and this is illustrated in petroglyphs from West Mesa at Albuquerque, NM, as well as from the Galisteo Basin. These final examples demonstrate that the integration of the Star theme with the Eagle is complete.

Star personage, Galisteo, NM. Photo: Peter Faris, Sept. 1988.

These images from the Albuquerque area are dated from the Pueblo IV period, ca. AD 1300 - 1540, and those from the Galisteo Basin are assigned to the post-ca. AD 1300 period. The fusion of the Star and Eagle concepts developed an image in which the star was portrayed with the tail of an eagle projecting upward, perhaps to illustrate the eagle in a stoop or a dive. This is virtually identical with the Hopi Nangasohu Kachina identified as the Chasing Star or Meteor Kachina and described above. Indeed the combination of the concepts of the stooping eagle and a star would very strongly suggest the appearance of a comet with its tail of light.

                                                                                                                                                                      

Galisteo, NM. Star-Kachina petroglyph.

Note Eagle tail headdress and star head.

Photo: Peter Faris

This suggests that the record preserved in the rock art of the Galisteo Basin and the upper Rio Grande area in New Mexico records the spectacular appearance of Halley's Comet in AD 1301, as well as its evolution into a specific sacred being among the kachinas of the Ancestral Puebloan pantheon, and its subsequent influence on their culture.

DRAGONFLIES IN ROCK ART:

In a place like the arid American Southwest any place where water is found is a memorable and highly prized location. Symbols that are associated with such places would also be considered important. One symbol that inevitably comes to mind around water in the Southwest is the dragonfly. Dragonflies, in addition to being associated with water, are also definitely sky beings. For some Native American tribes they represent swiftness and activity. They are commonly portrayed in Native American art as a vertical line with a double crossbar.

Shield, and dragonfly, Galisteo dike, NM.

Photo Peter Faris, 1988.

The image of the dragon fly from Galisteo Dike was produced by ancestral Pueblo people. These images are fairly common in the southwest. In this location it is associated with other images including sky symbolism. There is a 4-pointed star, a bird, and a shield decorated with stars and sun images. As a sky being the association of the dragonfly with sky symbols makes sense. Adding all of this to its association with water we should expect that the dragonfly symbol would be popular in rock art of the region. 

Yellow Nose with Dragonfly shield, National Anthropological

Archive, Smithsonian Institution. MS. 166032.

Tribes of the Great Plains also see desirable military qualities in the dragonfly. Its straight flight can be reminiscent of the flight of an arrow and its quick zigzag darting makes it hard for an enemy to strike. The Cheyenne warrior Yellow Nose had these qualities in mind when he painted a dragonfly on his war shield.

Navajo dragonfly. Redrawn from  Kritsky and
Cherry, Insect Mythology, 2000, p. 109.

The Zuni regard the dragonfly as possessing supernatural power and killing one is supposedly forbidden. Because of its shape the Zunis also see a resemblance to an awl used for leatherworking and Dragonfly Kachina is associated with moccasin making and sewing. They appear in Hopi rock art, and on Pueblo necklaces. For the Navajo they symbolize pure water.

KWAHU, THE EAGLE KACHINA:

Eagle head, Three Rivers, New Mexico. Photo

November 1988, John and Esther Faris.

One category of images commonly seen in rock art in almost all areas of North America represents sky themes. This is especially true in the American Southwest where climatic conditions are generally dry and desert-like, and people relied upon regular rain for their food supplies. In the southwest numerous petroglyphs and pictographs of birds (especially eagles who are the beast deities of above) can be found, and one is a kachina figure seen in Puebloan Kachina dance rituals representing Kwahu, the eagle kachina. The eagle ruled the sky, and was thus in charge of the source of the rain needed for crops. Eagle petroglyphs are particularly common in areas near the region of the upper Rio Grande where dense populations of Pueblo peoples relied heavily on agriculture for subsistence.

The first illustration (above) is a grand naturalistic eagle head from the large petroglyph site at Three Rivers, New Mexico.

Eagle, star, and lightning. Galisteo dike,

New Mexico. Photo: Peter Faris.

The petroglyph of the eagle with a star and lightning is from Galisteo dike. This combination of sky themes in one composition covers all the bases toward the source of rain. The mixture of eagle and star themes is very common in Galisteo, and also at Petroglyph Park west of Albuquerque. Adding the lightning in this example reinforces the water connection as lightning usually occurs in conjunction with rain.

As a kachina, Kwahu wears a case mask painted blue-green although older examples were sometimes brown. It possesses an eagle-shaped beak with a black inverted “V” or chevron above it. Occasionally, in one of the night ceremonies in March or during the Powamu, one may have the satisfaction of seeing a performance of the Eagle Kachina. Usually the performer imitates the step or motion and cry of the eagle to absolute perfection. Eagle Kachinas will sometimes appear with Mudheads at night ceremonies in March.

Eagle (Kwahu) kachina mask, Three Rivers,

New Mexico. Photo: Peter Faris.

This petroglyph from Three Rivers, New Mexico, appears to represent an eagle mask seen from the side. It shows the hooked beak of the eagle pointing to the left, with a large eye, and a double diagonal line beneath the eye like the common tear motif which can be related to the inverted “V” or chevron seen above the beak of the eagle kachina illustrated. Given the location of Three Rivers there are basically three birds that have this natural marking and that this petroglyph might represent. The three are Prairie Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, and the American Kestral, all of which can be seen in the area and which have the natural “tear marking” below their eye as seen in the petroglyph. This feature is, however, also an attribute of the mask representing Kwahu, and has probably become a generic symbol for the raptors in general, thus its use on the Eagle kachina.

KACHINAS IN ROCK ART - THE SHALAKO:

Although they are not technically kachinas, the shalakos dance in pueblo ceremonials like the kachinas. Resembling giant birds, the Zuni shalakos are up to ten feet tall. While dancing rhythmically, they clack their beaks. They dance until near sunrise. The tall, conical, and long-necked for of the shalako with their long beaks was probably derived from the sandhill crane.

Zuni Shalako, p. 102, Hopi Indian Kachina Dolls

by Oscan T. Branson, 1992,

Treasure Chest Publications, Tucson.

Rock art depictions of the shalako kachina can be dated back to the 14th century but its recent history is more complex. In her book Kachinas In The Pueblo World Polly Schaafsma described the loss of much of the Kachina cult at Hopi. First through the efforts of the Spanish after their conquest of the southwest to eradicate native religions and supplant them with Christianity. This was conducted by the destruction of religious items and shrines, even religious leaders on occasion. Among Pueblo peoples this was manifested by burning kachina masks, costumes, and dolls, and outlawing the dances and ceremonies. Then in the nineteenth century Hopi was swept by smallpox epidemics which killed many of the elders who possessed the ceremonial knowledge necessary for the rites.

Zuni Shalako, by Fred Kobotie, plate 36,
Kachinas in the Pueblo World, Polly

Schaafsma, 1994, University of New

Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

This was apparently the case with the Hopi shalako. Its first recorded appearance at Hopi was in 1870 and its second was in 1893. At the 1893 reappearance a Hopi informant stated that their Shalako ceremony had not occurred for over 30 years. This Hopi shalako was based on the Zuni Sia Shalako, but the ceremony was Hopi based upon reconstructions from memories. Shaafsma relates this story on pages 142-3 of her book. She also related how the lost Hopi Shalako returned to Second Mesa through the efforts of the great Hopi painter Fred Kobotie who painted a reproduction based upon two tablitas he found in the basement of the New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts, and he recognized them as belonging to the Hopi Shalako based on his memories of descriptions by his grandfather.

Shalako petroglyph, West

Mesa, Albuquerque, NM.

Photo: 1988, Peter Faris.

Shalako petroglyph, Galisteo Dike,

NM. Photo: 1988, Peter Faris.

Shalako petroglyph, Galisteo Dike,

NM. Photo: 1988, Peter Faris.

Shalako mask pictograph, Village

of the Great Kivas, Zuni, NM.

Photo: Teresa Weedin.

Shalako depictions are found in rock art in the area of the Western pueblos near both Hopi and Zuni, and are also found in the Rio Grande area. The examples shown here are petroglyphs of shalakos from west of Albuquerque and from Galisteo Dike east of the Rio Grande and south of Santa Fe, and a beautifully painted contemporary pictograph of shalako from the panel of kachina masks at the Village of the Great Kivas near Zuni.