Wakas

Derived from Spanish for cow, “vaca,” Waka Kachina well illustrates the variation and harmony seen in Kachinas. Each village, each carver, each time period may have a different Waka, yet each embodies a certain likeness. Waka is the spirit of the cow, and a feather from him would bring abundance to a household’s stock of cattle. In this large-scale painting, Farnsworth puts you in the presence of the Waka, capturing the personality of the Kachina and the dancer.