Indian Ceremonial Puppets

Date1950's

MediumWood, plastic, ink, cardboard, metal staples

Dimensions16 × 10 in. (40.6 × 25.4 cm)

ClassificationsRecreational Objects

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Nancy Tucker

Object numberPC2017.44.5

DescriptionRed, yellow, and blue felt puppet with feathers in original closed bag. Label on packaging reads "Indian Ceremonial Puppets, American Indian Made, this Kachina is 'Tukwumag'".
Kachina are supernatural beings who live on high mountain tops and are impersonated by men in some of the Pueblo Indian Ceremonies."

This is a red puppet, with yellow stripes on wrists, with a blue and yellow headdress and white eyes. The Tewa are a group of Pueblo Native Americans who speak the Tewa language. Their homelands are on or near the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico.

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