One activity that I have been periodically engaged in since September of 2001 is trading with the Hopi carvers. I first read about non-Hopi traders from Barton Wright's book about the various aspects of collecting Hopi Kachina Dolls back in the early 1990s and thought it might be something I would like to do one day. At that time I knew very little about Hopi Kachina Dolls and nothing about trading. For me it was somewhat of a daydream. In 2001, I began reading about and studying Hopi Kachina Dolls with renewed interest. I knew that we had many Cottonwood trees growing along the rivers here in western Montana, so one day I decided to drive to a local fishing-access near where I work and see what I could find. A co-worker accompanied me and on our first trip out we found quite a bit of Cottonwood Root, which I cut into lengths approximately 3 1/2 feet long so that I could easily carry all of the sections of root, what the Hopi call "paako." My first trip to Hopi with paako loaded in the trunk of my car was a bust, but I that is a story for another time.
Cottonwood Root has "Wuya" or spiritual power according to the Hopi. Now if you are worried about the roots I am cutting from the Cottonwood Trees and the potential damage I am inflicting on the beautiful trees, have no fear, for the root must come from trees that have long-since died and their roots have sat in the wind, the rain, snow and the sun curing for years to become porous, light-weight and easy to carve. The roots also must be harvested before they become rotten. The best "paako" is from sections of root that are straight, though some carvers create sculptures from the twisted lengths, firm and without rocks or knots in them.
My first several trips collecting root, I gathered a lot of rotten or otherwise unusable root through my inexperience. The best place to find quality root are along broad floodplains with dead trees washed up on the gravel-bars along the channels of the river. I have collected along the Bitterroot, though, my favorite river to go harvest paako is along the Clark Fork River flowing through Missoula. To illustrate the gathering of the Cottonwood Root, I will include various photos from a gathering-trip along the Clark Fork in March of 2009.
For fun, I have included historical photos of Abbott Sackiestewa, a noted carver of Route 66 Dolls and full-figured carvings active in the 1950s and 60s. The photos came from an AZ Hwys issue circa 1950s. Though obviously posed, the photos show Abbott and his family out looking for Cottonwood Root along the banks of the Little Colorado of northern Arizona.
Typically, I hunt for the Root from the end of June through April at the latest. The rivers are at their lowest during the winter months and I am able to cross many channels due to the low water. Late April is when ice and snow begin to thaw in the high mountains and the rivers really begin rise and stay dangerously high till about the end of June. Summer still has higher water, however, by August the rivers have dropped and the water is sometimes warm enough (or not too bone-chilling is what I should really write) that I can swim across in pursuit of high-quality paako.
Once collected, I contact various carvers to work out trades either through facebook or save the Root for the rare occasions that I travel to Hopi. I will write about other aspects of trading at Hopi and with the carvers, sharing personal stories, another time.
