July
2005
Pahponee
(Kickapoo)
The
Highlight of the Month program at The Indian Craft Shop focuses on a particular craft area, region
or artist family/group. Our aim is to illustrate the
diversity of tribal groups and the wide variety of artistic
expressions and traditions in the country today. Pahponee has
been working with clay since the 1980s. She is a
descendant of the Kickapoo and Potawatomi Nations,
originally from the Great Lakes. Her Kickapoo name
translates into “Snow Woman.” Pahponee
is a self taught clay artist who has learned the traditional
methods of her Woodland culture as well as contemporary
pottery techniques. She is proud to be reviving pottery
making of the Great Lakes region, bringing exposure
to an art form that has not been prevalent in the past
century.
 
Pahponee’s early inspiration to learn about
pottery making came from a life changing experience. “I
was taken to see a White Buffalo mother and her White
calf,” she explains, “ White Buffalo are
sacred to our Native people. It was an auspicious occasion
to be in their presence.” After their meeting,
Pahponee was haunted with an image of the White Buffalo
coming out of a pot. “I would see this one specific
pot and other beautiful pots in my mind and dreams.
But I didn’t know how to make them.” Pahponee
was driven to learn everything she could about pottery.
Her husband Greg, a trained ceramist, encouraged and
advised her with some of his technical knowledge.
She also sought Native elders for any knowledge they
could impart.
“It was a struggle to learn how to make the
pots of my dreams real.” Pahponee spent years
experimenting with hand dug and commercial clays and
primitive outdoor dung as well as contemporary kiln
firing. “The first several years were rough,
until I began to develop a better understanding of
the rhythm of earth, water, fire and air.” The
extensive experimentation, study and research have
resulted in a technical excellence in clay properties,
tools, and in building and firing techniques. Whether
hand coiling, hand throwing on the potter’s wheel,
firing with dung or in the kiln, it takes an artist
with discipline and skill to bring the work to life.
Mastering pottery techniques has provided the platform
for Pahponee to create a distinctive style of pottery
that expresses her own personal style and innovative
spirit.
 
“I have also learned that all clay is sacred
and alive! Whether hand dug or purchased from another
country,” Pahponee says, “working with
clay is a sacred activity for me, involving a personal
interaction between myself and the clay, and with,
as we say in our ceremonies, ‘All My Relations’.” Her
pottery continues to be inspired by her dreams, visions
and personal life experiences, and is still being guided
she says, by the White Buffalo. The shapes, colors
and textures may vary, but they are always sophisticated
and elegant, with clean lines and graceful shapes --
some with fire clouds from outdoor firing, others that
are sculptural with buffalos or different animals seeming
to emerge from the clay, or others with the look of
stone accented by petroglyphs or tiny dragonflies carved
into the surface.
“When I work on my pots, the world falls away,” says
Pahponee. “It’s almost like being in a
dream. Sometimes I even feel like I’m with the
white buffalo again.” Pottery reminds her of
painting. “Each pot is like a blank canvas. Each
one has its own story.” For example, when asked
about her dragonfly pots, she says, “My People
came from the Great Lakes; we are water-based peoples
and the dragonfly is a water creature. It is Nature’s
messenger, bringing messages from the Spirit World.
They are good omens or a good sign. If one lands on
you, it has a message for you.”
One afternoon while sitting by a pond
she saw the water churning and then a cloud of baby
dragonflies
emerged from the pond. “I loved this sight. Dragonflies
and other creatures that can transform from water to
land creatures are very special to us. They represent
the creative energy in Nature. Since then I’ve
enjoyed adding dragonflies to my works.”
Today, Pahponee is one of the top Native American
potters, with recognition from peers and awards from
juried shows. Always experimenting with new techniques,
pottery by Pahponee is still recognizably hers with
a consistency in grace and beauty, and meticulous in
shape and design.
Indian
Craft Shop
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
(202) 208-4056
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