Working with clay has built a strong bond
between the women in Marietta Juanico's family at Acoma.
They have shared techniques, designs and a way of life through
the generations. You can hear the pride in her voice as she
talks of her mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, and that
pride is reflected in her work. Making traditional pottery
is a difficult and time consuming process, but the end product
is one of artistry and beauty.
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Marietta learned to make
pottery from her mother Frances Concho and grandmother
Helen Patricio,
both well respected potters. She was six when her grandmother
began teaching her to make small pots. "By the time
I was in high school, I was good enough to sell with
my grandmother on the Mesa Top at Acoma," says Marietta. "I
made small and medium sized pots until after I was married.
Then, my mother-in-law, Marie Juanico, encouraged me
to build larger pots." Today, Marietta makes pots
from 1 inch to 24 inches high. |
| Marietta’s
pottery is elegant and graceful, from wide mouthed
ollas to
long neck vases.
In her smaller works, she often captures the shapes and
forms of the old water jars and vases, then uses the
traditional designs found on larger pieces to decorate
them. The walls are thin and smooth, the painting is
clean and precise. She uses some contemporary, but mostly
traditional, designs of which several were passed to
her from her grandmother - the black on white fine-line
Starburst Rain pattern and the orange squares and brown
triangles that comprise the Butterfly pattern. |
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"All of my traditional pottery
comes from the earth," says Marietta. The clay and pottery
shards (broken pottery) are mined on the reservation. The
yellow-orange paint comes from yellow sand that has been
strained and ground. The brown-black paint comes from a stone
found in the dry riverbeds. Her pots are hand-built, using
the traditional coil technique. She uses a coconut shell
and wooden paddle to shape her pots and a smooth stone to
polish them. She has stones of different sizes, the largest
one handed down from her mother. Marietta uses the old-style
yucca brushes to paint her designs. "I've tried the
commercial brushes, but they just don't work as well," says
Marietta.
Gathering and preparing the clay is a family affair. Everyone
helps gather - Marietta's husband Melvin and their teenage
children, Joshua, Katie Ann and Mary Helen. Melvin and Joshua
grind and sift the clay, getting it ready to mix. Marietta
has won a number of ribbons for her pottery. Her work is
in museum collections in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Phoenix,
Arizona. She has demonstrated her pottery making at various
shows and public institutions, including an Indian Market
hosted by The Indian Craft Shop at the Smithsonian Institution's
Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Language
and culture are important to Marietta and her husband Melvin.
Melvin has been serving as the
Interpreter for the
Pueblo for the past year. For the past two and a half years,
Marietta has been teaching their native Keres language to
children ages five to fourteen. "You can't teach language
without teaching about culture," says Marietta. Her
commitment is so strong that she is now taking classes to
obtain her credentials in early childhood education so that
she can also teach in the public schools. Marietta is admired
and respected for her dedication to continuing pottery traditions
and for teaching and sharing on the culture and language
at the Acoma Pueblo.
The Indian Craft Shop represents artists from over 40
tribal areas within the United States. Located in the Department
of the Interior federal building at 18th and C Streets, the
Shop is open Monday thru Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Closed federal holidays. Open the third Saturday of each month
from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Photo ID required for entrance.
For more information, call 202-208-4056.
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