1. A supernatural ancestral spirit of the Hopi or Pueblo peoples: "The Kachina was idealized as a god or goddess and thought to live in the pueblo for some time during the year: "Reading in a book about Indians, Susan found out that each Hopi tribe had its own Kachina, the mythological ancestors of living humans in spirit form."

"There might have been up to 500 Kachinas!"

2. A dancer who wears a very detailed and elaborate mask, and is supposed to represent a certain spirit during a ceremony, either a religious or an agricultural one: "One of the Kachinas, wearing a fantastic costume, was even thought to be transformed by one of the spirits during the devout ceremony in the evening."
3. A doll which is carved, wearing a costume of a particular spirit and normally given to a child as a gift: "At the souvenir store, Linda bought a little Kachina for her daughter as a birthday present."
4. Etymology: from Hopi katsina, "a magical or supernatural being or a masked person pretending to be such a being."