We’ve spent much of this week visiting with messengers, including messengers of dawn, those animal and other beings who travel as emissaries between us and the spirits.
But we humans have our own tasks, too. In the traditional cultures of the Southwest, many of these tasks are performed while personifying, or inhabiting the image of, particular spirits: Katsinam, otherwise known as kachinas.
The most famed katsinam are those of the Hopi people, whose dances are recognized for their power and pageantry worldwide. But the other Pueblos have their own katsinam, too, some very similar, others unique. They all share one aspect in common, however: All call upon the power of their respective traditions’ spirit beings for the benefit of the people.
At Hopi, one of those spirit beings is Morning Singer. We’ve introduced you to him before, during the rapidly shortening days of November when the light dims early. As I said then:
It’s the time of year when Father Sun has less and less time to make his daily journey across the heavens, when his progress is overtaken by the night spirits increasingly early at day’s end. And although he rises early, here, at least, he has mountains to climb before he can really begin to put some miles beneath his moccasins. As we get closer to the what the modern calendar calls winter, the time when the days are shortest, he needs every-more help to make the journey.
He gets help from the katsinam, the spirit beings, and from the songs and prayers of the people. At Hopi, Morning Singer performs this task year-round. Called Talavi in his people’s language, he appears as one of a pair. Together, they ascend to the rooftops of the pueblo and sing to call the dawn, waking the people to morning prayers that, merged, melded, and magnified, help Father Sun on his way across the sky.
In a land where Father Sun reigns supreme, his light the dominant feature of the rugged landscape, it’s not especially surprising that the peoples indigenous to this area would find that he takes a central role in their daily lives. In turn, it’s perfectly natural that the people should honor his presence and his blessings by offering songs and prayers — and by carving figurative pieces that pay tribute to those who do so.
So it is with Morning Singer in carved form. From his description in our Other Artists: Katsinam gallery:
Hand-hewn by master carver Josh Aragon (Hopi/Laguna) in the traditional manner, out of a single piece of cottonwood root, Morning Singer emerges to call the dawn. Most carvers create katsinam standing alone, divorced from the context of daily Pueblo life; showing the figure ascending the pine ladder to emerge onto the roof is one of Josh’s signature styles. Here, Morning Singer wears his traditional case mask and ruff, hand-painted in brilliant traditional colors and patters, and carries an eagle feather. He wears a blanket of the dawn sky, complete with shooting star. Stands 7.5″ high from bottom of base to top of figure; 10″ to top of longest ladder pole (dimensions approximate). Additional views shown above and below.
Cottonwood root; paint
$585 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Requires special handling; extra shipping charges apply
Here on the land, a few miles from the old village, we have another pair pf being who serve, for us, as Morning Singers: Meadowlarks. The pair who live here, partnered male and female, sing the dawn every day in a call-and-response duet. They sing the dusk, as well, a lullaby for Father Sun as he descends to rest for the night. They were already at work when I arose this morning, just at dawn, the sun spilling over and around the peaks like a golden flood upon the fields.
Now, though, Father Sun has joined with the clouds amassing to the south and west, allowing them to drape a blue-gray blanket around his shoulders, relieving him of a bit of the weight of his daily task. He has brought the showers to us already, briefly, and more will follow soon — an out-of-season blessing to accompany the light of this day.
And we begin our day secure in the knowledge that our Morning Singers have once again sung Father Sun onto his path across the sky.
~ Aji
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