Walter was born in 1921 in the First Mesa village of Sitsom'ovi. After receiving an education at the Indian School in Santa Fe and working for Disney in Los Angeles, among other jobs, Walter was again living in Sitsom'ovi until shortly before his death from an extended illness, on January 2nd, 2003.

Walter carved Katsinas for over sixty years. He carved with pocket knives and simple hand tools. He first began making the dolls look 'old' about forty years ago. A local trader, Tom Bahti, requested that Walter duplicate a genuinely old Shalako. Walter experimented with various combinations of paints to match that of the old Katsinas.

He developed his own techniques for removing areas of paint in the numerous layers of 'paint' mixed with tuma. Tuma is a white clay mixture often used as a base or primer upon which the pigments are applied.

It took many hours of painstaking work to achieve the right 'look'. Walter said, "I close my eyes and think of how the dolls used to look when I was a child." This is why Walter's dolls possess a unique character and spiritual quality all their own.

Click here to view the work of Walter Howato