US Hopi Nation Holy Figure: "Tawa and Koyemsi"

This is a US Hopi People carving called a "kachina." Kachina carvings are painted to represent figures from Hopi mythology. They are kept in the homes of religious Hopi and Zuni families.

In this kachina, the sun spirit, Tawa, is featured prominently on the front of the carving. The mudhead kachina, or "Koyemsi" is carved in three dimensions on the back of the figure. Pueblos are also carved into the base of the figure.

The kachina tradition is unique to the Pueblo Tribes of Arizona and New Mexico, an integral part of Hopi and Zuni life. Kachinas are benevolent spirit beings who live among the Hopi for a six-month period each year. From the winter solstice through July, kachina ceremonies fill the villages of Hopi. Hopi men personify kachinas to give shape and visual understanding to the invisible kachina spirits who have sustained the Hopi life. Today, a Hopi man who participates in the Hopi ceremonies believes that his personal identity is transformed into the kachina spirit he represents. Kachinas are called upon for many reasons, for instance to bring good crops or to bless rites of passage.

Masks are the most important part of the doll, as is true in the kachina which it represents, for this feature truly identifies the kachina's persona.

The sun kachina, which represents the spirit of the sun, has a number of other names. Tawa is one of his most common, but he also goes by the sun shield kachina. The most prominent features of the sun kachina are his head and headdress. A circle of feathers frames his face, which is covered with a colorful, round mask. The bottom half of his mask is blue, featuring a black triangular mouth and black rectangular eyes, while his mask's upper half is divided into an orange half and a yellow half.  
Source:
http://www.hopikachina.com/
http://www.native-languages.org/kachinas.htm http://www.ehow.com/about_6311939_sun-kachina-dolls.html#ixzz1X0eDKsB5
http://mudhead.kachina.us/index.htm
http://www.hopikachina.com/
http://kachina.us/
http://www.nativeamericanlinks.com/kachina/kachina.htm