Earl Dino Patterson – Hopi Contemporary Carver

Earl Dino Patterson Jr. (Sunaweuma) is Hopi and Navajo from Hotevilla (Third Mesa) in northeastern Arizona from the Hopi reservation. His clan is Roadrunner and Greasewood from the Hopi tribe. He was taught to carve Hopi Katsina dolls by his brother and brother-in-law. Earl has been carving for over 20 years. The word Katsina means spirit for ever living entity in this world. The sun, the moon, the earth, the stars, plants animals and even certain mountain all have spirits that are represented in the Hopi culture and ceremony. All the katsinas that are carved by Hopis are carved with cottonwood root. All the color represents something in life. The red represents female, the yellow represents the male, the blue represent the water and sky, the black represents negative and white represents the positive / goodness.