Angak on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
In Hopi mythology, Angak or Angak'china is a male Hopi
The loose, waist length black hair and long beard represents the rain he symbolizes as bringing to the Hopi. The loose tassels of feathers represents the clouds that the rain comes from, while eagle fluffs in particular are representative of cloud bursts. Feathers on dolls' backs are Hopi prayers for rain, as are the dances by spirit dancers. Dances by Angak kachinas are said to bring rain, particularly gentle rainfalls, to help crop growth in the relatively arid areas of the Hopi homelands in the desert southwest.
When rain does come, Hopi oral legend says it is the ancestor kachinas letting down their long hair across the mesas to provide life-giving rain to take care of the living. This legend may have arisen as the approaching rain typical of the region looks like strands of hair.
kachina
A kachina (; Hopi language, Hopi: ''katsina'' , plural ''katsinim'' ) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo people, Native Americans in the United States, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the Unite ...
spirit, represented by spirit dancers and a corresponding kachina doll figure, known to outsiders as ''Longhair'' or ''Long Hair''. Angak is originally from the Zuni Pueblo. The goal of the Angak spirit is to bring rain
Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
and flowers to the Hopi villages. Angak sings sweet songs to bring rain. Further, he represents a healing and protective figure. There are many varieties of Angak, such as the red-bearded ''Hokyan Angak'china.'' He is present and relatively popular throughout the Hopi and Hopi-Tewa areas of Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
and New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
.
Dance
The dance of this figure is slow. Angak dancers arrive in the villages grouped with White or Yellow Corn Maidens and sing positive melodies. Angak spirit dancers are often present at the home dance, ''Niman''.Representation
Figures of Angak will have waist-length black hair, a traditional male Hopi hairstyle, and a black beard to mid chest. The figure traditionally wears a full length white cape, showing only his right hand, which contains an evergreen bough, representative of his home in the sacred San Francisco Peaks. Feathers, such as eagle fluffs, are present in his beard, and on his back or in the cape. The forward part of the headdress over the brow consists of yellow feathers, while the rear part contains a long pendant of feathers terminating in a raincloud symbol. Feathers in the doll are traditionally carved. When represented as a traditional cottonwood root carving, Angak will usually be taller than other kachinas by the same artist.Rain Symbology
The loose, waist length black hair and long beard represents the rain he symbolizes as bringing to the Hopi. The loose tassels of feathers represents the clouds that the rain comes from, while eagle fluffs in particular are representative of cloud bursts. Feathers on dolls' backs are Hopi prayers for rain, as are the dances by spirit dancers. Dances by Angak kachinas are said to bring rain, particularly gentle rainfalls, to help crop growth in the relatively arid areas of the Hopi homelands in the desert southwest.
When rain does come, Hopi oral legend says it is the ancestor kachinas letting down their long hair across the mesas to provide life-giving rain to take care of the living. This legend may have arisen as the approaching rain typical of the region looks like strands of hair.
References