Headdress (Tableta)

Hopi Pueblo, Arizona, Native American

Early 20th century

In an important ceremony that closes the sacred Katsina dancing season in July and opens late-summer dances, young, unmarried Hopi women dance in beautifully embroidered dresses and headdresses, like this one. Artists decorate tabletas with symbols, including a stepped motif—at the very top—that represents clouds and farmers’ constant prayer for rain in the Desert Southwest.