Cotton originated in Central America and was traded north, where it was cultivated by the Hopi long before the arrival of the Spanish. After the Spanish introduced sheep in the sixteenth century, wool was used in Hopi textile production. Since the cotton fiber itself is associated with clouds, it is a suitable garment for the katsinas, who bring the rain.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), wool (Ovis aries), commercial/chemical dye; L 224.0 x W 27.0; 35752-121, gift of Benjamin D. Bernstein in memory of Evelyn Glauser Bernstein