Tasanaiyo (Walpi), A Chief Kachina from First Mesa c. 1920

Fred Kabotie made this watercolour painting of Tasanaiyo, a Chief Kachina from First Mesa, on paper. Imagine Fred carefully mixing his colours, the water diluting the pigments just so, to achieve the right earthy hues for the figure and the mask. There's something so direct and unassuming about the way Fred painted this figure. The colours are flat, and the lines are crisp, but look how he captured the essence of movement in the kachina's pose, caught mid-step. You can almost hear the rhythmic beat of the drum and the sound of the rattles accompanying the dance. I wonder if Fred felt a sense of responsibility painting this figure, holding a cultural history in his hands. It reminds me of other artists who've depicted cultural figures with such reverence, like Marsden Hartley’s paintings of Native American subjects. It’s as if these artists are not just painting an image, but also preserving a memory, sharing a story, and keeping the spirit of a tradition alive.