Alaska souvenir figure - who/what is it and can anyone read the siggie?

I paid too much in an antique store. It's not something I'd ordinarily grab, but the carving is really well-done. It's marked Alaska on the bottom, and what I'm guessing is an abbreviated place name. Shalak?

 

That is probably the name of the maker, because it is a Shalako figure from the Southwest. The other name is Shalako.
@Taupou .

 

Aha. I could have sworn that was Alaska, but it's made of cottonwood ... ?

 

Yes, the wood of the Southwest.
The Shalako is traditionally Zuni, but I will leave determination to Taupou.

 

Corn maiden?

 

Looks more Navajo to me.

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...qAhVdoHIEHdzaD7EQsAR6BAgKEAE&biw=1600&bih=758

 

She looks lovely. Can we see the back?

 

First, not every carving from the Southwest can accurately be called a kachina doll, which this is attempting to be. Only the Hopi, Zuni, and some Rio Grande pueblo tribes have kachinas in their culture/religion, and only the Hopi, and a small handful of Zuni, carve kachina dolls for sale. Authentic kachina dolls are only made by Hopi or Zuni carvers.

The Navajo do not have kachinas in their culture, but they started carving figures similar figures that are often passed off as kachina dolls, although they often are inaccurate in their depiction of the specific kachina, and often include excessive feathers, fabric, and leather, unlike the Hopi carvings.

If you buy directly from the Navajo carver, and if they are a reputable craftsperson, they will only call them "figures" or "dolls," not "kachina dolls," but the distinction is usually lost once they arrive on the secondary market.

The Hopi are well-aware of the copies and fakes passed off as authentic, and therefore usually are careful to clearly sign their names and village, usually in ball point pen, sometimes by pencil. The Navajo often mass-produce the figures they carve for the inexpensive souvenir market, and usually sign with a felt pen. This is signed like a typical Navajo carving.

It is better done than many Navajo figures. However, if it were intended as a Hopi Shalako kachina, it would have an elaborate tableta, or headgear. Either this is missing, or was never done. The Hopi have two Shalako figures, the male (Shalako Taka) and female (Shalako Mana). They differ only slightly: the female has a white face and moccasins, the male has red or blue moccasins. Both differ from the Zuni Shalako figure, whose face, headgear, and robe is entirely different.

Since this doesn't even have moccasins, or a tablita, and isn't clearly signed as Hopi, or identified as a Shalako Mana, it can only be called a carved Southwest figure. Probably Navajo, but it could have been done by anyone, including non-Native American carvers. There are books and kits widely available at woodcarving shows and supply shops, describing how to carve "kachina dolls."

 

Not related at all to a Corn Maiden. Those are supposed to be feathers on the robe (although it does resemble a corn cob.)

 

Navajo souvenir piece then. Thanks Tapou.

 

Tapou didn't exactly say it was for certain Navajo. He said:

 

Oh well - close enough for my purposes.