A Zuni pueblo mudhead from Mud Matters.
With so much rain, Max observed that Pontullia is "peaking" and "it's a great time for mud". He wanted to know more about the Mudheads so we did a little morning browsing. We found this information on a kachina website:
The Koyemsi, or Mudhead Kachina, is a clown who may be seen in most Hopi ceremonies. Mudhead Kachinas drum, dance, play games with the audience, and may act as announcers for events. They often give prizes or rewards for the races and guessing games they organize. The term "mudhead" comes from their masks which have mud applied to them.
Most of the time they accompany other kachina; probably the only time when they do not appear with other personages is during the Night Dances. Koyemsi are usually the ones that play games with the audience to the accompaniment of rollicking tunes. These games are generally guessing games or simple attempts to balance objects of performances of some common act and the rewards are prizes of food or clothing.
They may appear as a chorus, and on First Mesa and possibly other villages their songs are in Zuni. During the rests in a dance, they may engage in games with the boys and girls in the audience. At other times, only a single Mudhead may appear as a drummer for a group. Should a dancer not have the proper mask or be late in arriving, he can easily become a Mudhead by donning that mask. These kachinas appear in almost every Hopi dance.
A Zuni mudhead mask from New Mexico currently at the Met.
Alina reads an excerpt from Mud Matters in which author Jennifer Owens Dewey describes her experience at a Hopi mudhead ceremony (6:21)
Editorial note: You can enjoy Milla's latest vocalization phase in the background. She is currently exploring screaming at the top of her lungs and then looking around to see if Micah or Max will scream with her. I am so very glad they did not.
Hopi mudhead masks for auction.
