In the Park's Permanent Collection

From time to time Tohono Chul Park will showcase pieces from the Park's Permanent Collection. Our Collection houses more than 250 mostly Native American fine crafts, including pottery, baskets, weavings and carvings. The two pieces featured on this page also are currently on display in the Exhibit House reception area. Please visit!

Tootsa Hummingbird Kachina
 9 ½” tall
Artist: Bryan Scott, New Oraibi

The Hopi word for this kachina is Tootsa. It is a representation of a hummingbird, which Hopi legend speaks of as intervening on behalf of the Hopi people to convince the gods to bring rain. During traditional ceremonies, the Tootsa bobs while dancing and calls like a bird. His songs are prayers for moisture, to help nourish the plants and crops.

The Hummingbird Kachina appears in the Winter Kiva dances and the spring Soyohim dances. The Kiva night dances are performed in underground kivas, or ceremonial rooms. They are sacred and therefore not open to the public. The Soyohim ceremony symbolizes the second phase of creation at the dawn of life and is celebrated during the winter solstice. The Hummingbird Kachina also participates in Kachina Night Dances of March, or the Angkwa, as a side dancer.

 All Hopi Hummingbird Kachinas are depicted with a green mask and green moccasins. Kachina dolls are carved from the root of the cottonwood tree. It can also be called tithu, the Hopi word for kachina doll.

The kachina doll pictured here was given to Tohono Chul Park by Mrs. Robert Wilson, the mother of Dick Wilson, the founder of Tohono Chul Park . Mrs. Robert Wilson was the sister of Dr. Harold Colton, founder of Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff . During the 1950s and 60s, Mrs. Wilson collected Native American art pieces such as kachinas, rugs and baskets. She later bequeathed these treasures to Tohono Chul Park as part of her estate.

Hopi artist Alonzo Lomahaftewa, who has depicted the movements of the Hummingbird Kachinas in his paintings, describes the dance: “There is a [kachina] called Huhuwa who carries a wicker basket full of flowers…he sets it down and the Hummingbird [Kachinas] come over and hover around it.” he explains. “When the song stops, they also stop dancing around the basket and scatter, looking for more flowers. They also run up to ladies wearing flowers on their shawls. Many women dress up and wear brightly colored clothing to the ceremonies; they want to attract the kachinas. “The women choose the [kachinas] they like,” he says. “The women choose the dancers, and they would select the head singer and [the person] who takes care of the dancers. It is an honor to be chosen.” *

* Quote excerpted from: Seymour, Trynje Van Ness. When the Rainbow Touches Down.  Phoenix :The Heard Museum, 1988

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