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What are kachina dances intended to promote in Pueblo traditions?

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Map showing the distribution of Indigenous peoples and their lands in the American Southwest, with labeled areas for groups such as the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Apache, Pima, Yuma, Mojave, and others, along with major rivers and reservation boundaries.
Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest

In Pueblo traditions, kachina dances are sacred performances in which the dancers represent rain gods. These ceremonies are integral to the core of Pueblo ceremonialism, which is defined by continuous prayers for rain and the cycle of summer corn ceremonies.1

By performing these rituals while wearing kachina masks, the participants believe they are temporarily transformed, with the kachina spirit being actually present with or within the performer. These dances serve as a vital means of invoking the rain gods to ensure the well-being and agricultural success of the community.21