Hopi Doll Look-Alikes
An Extended Definition of Inauthenticity
zena pearlstone
This essay is a short history of imitation tithu, dolls representing katsi-
nam, the Hopi supernaturals. It is a study of “authenticity” in the market-
place and its perceived relation to “magic,” “spirituality,” and “antiquity,”
as the article follows early changes at Hopi through the contemporary
fabrications perpetuated through eBay. As it takes up issues of the com-
plexities of fake, reproduced, restored, misattributed, recarved, authen-
tic, traditional, and imitation Hopi tithu, the essay could be seen as a
poster scenario for “commodity fetishism” as desig