Kachina dolls are carved wooden figures representing the spirit beings important in the religious life of Pueblo people, today most predominantly in Hopi villages. Hopi men (a few women have begun carving in recent years) carve kachina dolls from the root of the cottonwood tree.

Using a variety of carving tools, they form the figure and then sand it smooth. Originally, sandstone was used for smoothing but this has been replaced with sandpaper and emery paper. To seal the wood, the doll is coated with a white clay, kaolin or gesso. The traditional mineral and vegetal paints, which rubbed off quite easily in handling, were first replaced with tempura and poster paints, and for the last 30 years, with acrylic paints which resulted in a wider and brighter range of colors. In the last decade, some carvers have returned to the more muted natural pigments, using an acrylic as a fixative.