Tino Youvella lives with his wife, Geraldine, and their four sons and three daughters in Polacca, where he was born more than forty years ago. All his sons carve, and Geraldine does most of the wood burning and painting for all of them. Their production is almost like a family business in which every member participates.

Tino started to carve in 1962 when their oldest child was born and he needed the money. He could not find a job in Polacca at the time and agreed to move his family to Phoenix to learn a trade. He worked in Phoenix as an auto mechanic until 1980, when he and his family moved back to Polacca. Over the years Tino had kept up with kachina doll carving, and Geraldine helped him paint his dolls. Now his sons and he produce action dolls that resemble those of the 1960s and 19'70s in stance and movement but that have no organic material ornamentation. Instead they are partially stained and painted with acrylics.

Tino carves separate pieces for the arms and often also for the legs. He carves pieces for the heads and the feathers separately and glues them onto the body of the doll. Decorations of the costume, ruffles, and other textures are indicated with the wood-burning iron before they are stained and painted.

Vintage hand-carved Native American katsina figure identified on the underside of the base as Tungwup Ta’amu, “Whipper’s Uncle,” Hopi. This elaborate mixed-media carving measures approximately 11 inches tall and features painted cottonwood, natural fur, feathers, leather, hair and separate yucca-whip accessories.

Tungwup Ta’amu, also spelled Tunqwup Ta’amu or Tungwup Ta-amu, is known as Whipper’s Uncle and is associated with the Hopi Bean Dance procession.

The underside contains handwritten identification, although no separate artist signature has been positively identified.