Definitions for kachinakəˈtʃi nə
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
ka•chi•nakəˈtʃi nə(n.)(pl.)-nas.
or ka•tci•na or ka•tchi•na
any of a class of supernatural beings who play a role in the religious beliefs and rituals of Pueblo Indian peoples.
Category: Mythology, Anthropology
a masked dancer impersonating such a being.
Category: Mythology, Anthropology
a carved wooden doll representing a kachina.
Category: Anthropology
Origin of kachina:
1885–90; < Hopi ḳacína
Wiktionary
kachina(Noun)
A system or cult of (often secret) religious rituals and ceremonies involving masks and dances concerned with bringing rain and good crops and with community welfare and integration found in typically western Pueblo cultures in the North American Southwest.
kachina(Noun)
The vaguely ancestral anthropomorphic entities ("raw people" in Zuni terminology) that are associated with clouds and rain, that personify the power in the sun, the earth, corn (among other things), that are responsible for rain production and crop welfare, that are impersonated in Puebloan kachina cult dances and masked ceremonies.
kachina(Noun)
The masked dancers that represent the kachina supernaturals in ceremonial dances.
Origin: From qatsina.
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