WHITE BUFFALO (KOCHA MOSAIRU) KACHINA ONE

A.L. Sahmie-1985
Corn Clan
Polacca, First Mesa

Sahmie is a Tewa/Hopi Indian artist from the First Mesa (Polacca) on the Hopi reservation. Like many Hopi kachina carvers, he is self-taught, working by trial and error and learning from other artist mentors including his mother, Priscilla Namingha, his wife, Ida Sahmie, his cousin Dan Namingha, are all award-winning artists in their own rights. Sahmie’s great-great grandmother was the historic Tewa/Hopi potter Nampeyo. In his more than three decades as a kachina artist, Sahmie has achieved a level of refinement in his work. One has only to look at the crook of a finger or the bend of an elbow or knee to understand his deep his concentration and attention to detail.
The piece in our collection is one of Sahmie’s finest works. It is a stunning kachina depicting White Buffalo in amazing detail, decorated with fur, feathers and sea shells, this is both a scared object but a fully realize work of art. The dancer is shown with a rattle in one hand and a bow in the other, wearing leather bracelets with metals disks. We acquired this piece from the Allen Funt estate in Santa Barbara.