• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / History / What was the Kachinvaki and When do Hopi children participate in the Kachinvaki ceremony?

What was the Kachinvaki and When do Hopi children participate in the Kachinvaki ceremony?

June 15, 2020 by Karen Hill

The Kachinvaki was the first ceremony attended by a Hopi child. Its purpose was to initiate girls and boys into Hopi society and tell them what would be expected of them as adults.

Children were deemed ready for the Kachinvaki usually sometime between the ages of six and nine. Each was assigned a sponsor, a man or a woman who prepared the child for the ceremony by telling him or her about the kachinas and their power.

On the day of the Kachinvaki, the children were taken into a kiva, where they were met by dancers wearing kachina masks. One dancer held a whip made of yucca branches. Told to put their hands above their heads, the children were whipped lightly by the dancer, often with the encouragement of their parents, who told the kachinas about the naughty things their children had done.

The kachina dancers later visited the children at their home and brought them presents. The children were then taken to an all-night dance, where one by one the dancers removed their masks to reveal that they were in fact men.

The boys and girls were told not to tell their secret to younger children before they learned the dancers’ true identity at their own Kachinvaki ceremony.

Related Facts

  • Who were the kachinas and Why were the kachinas important in Pueblo culture?
  • What was the Sun Dance and Why was the religious ceremony held by Plains Indian tribes?
  • What was the Booger Dance and How did the Cherokee ceremony originate?
  • When did Helen Sekaquaptewa publish her autobiography and How was water precious to the traditional Hopi?
  • What was the Green Corn Ceremony and When is the festival held?
  • Top 25 Inventions That Changed Our Lives Forever

Filed Under: History

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Who were the Koshare and Why did the Koshare act like clowns during Pueblo religious ceremonies?
Next Post: Who were the kachinas and Why were the kachinas important in Pueblo culture? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy