Hopi Artists Display Award Winning Carvings At MNA Hopi Show

Delbridge Honanie’s kachinas won him the Marketplace Award at the Museum of Northern Arizona Hopi Show.

Honanie, who wins big awards at this gathering every year, said he feels good about his work as he continues to bring home awards from Heard Museum, Santa Fe Indian Market and the Eight Northern Pueblos.

His longhaired kachina are expensivc but many consider the intricate work worth the money. The designs on this kachina include the sun, planets, corn girl, turtle, clouds and flowers. It also has petroglyph designs. A smaller kachina sells for somewhat less as this simple but elegant piece includes turtle, water and clouds.

Honanie, who is quick with a laugh, has been carving kachinas since he was initiated into the Bear Clan when he was a teenager. His grandfather Bernard Dowahoya of Second Mesa taught him the finer points of kachina carving.

A Flagstaff resident, Honanie graduated from Phoenix Indian High School before earning an AA in arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts. He taught art at Phoenix Indian High School for three years before starting on his carvings.

His kachinas come from cottonwood root. He mixes his own colors to come up with unique earth tones.

Henry Shelton won Best of Kachina in the Senior Division, again. He has won more awards at the Museum of Northern Arizona than he can remember and he has also won awards for his kachinas at many of the major Native American art shows in America.

Like most kachina carvers, he uses the traditional cottonwood root. But unlike most kachina carvers, he uses acrylic paints because he finds that it lasts longer than traditional paints.

Shelton started working on his kachinas more than 20 years ago when he learned the craft from his uncle, Kyrate Tuvahuma. The teaching has proved fruitful, as he has won awards at Santa Fe Indian Market and Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial. His works are found in galleries throughout America and has taken him to London, Germany, Canada and Australia.

Born in Kykotsmovi, which he refers to as new Oraibi, he was raised in Flagstaff and graduated from Santa Fe Indian High School.

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