History of Navajo Pottery

Navajo pottery has changed from functional to artistic over the years.

North American Indian pottery dates back at least 2,000 years, when the nomadic people settled into an agricultural lifestyle, creating a need for vessels to gather and store water and grains. Over the years, the purpose of Navajo pottery has changed from functional to ceremonial to artistic.

Geography

The Navajo Reservation spans 14 million acres from northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico to southeastern Utah. The southwestern U.S. has the longest record of continuous habitation on the North American continent outside of Mexico. This area is rich in the clay Navajo women use for their pottery.

Clay

Navajo potters often mix several types of clay together, but unlike many other tribes, they do not grind up old pottery shards to add to the raw clay powder mix. The Navajos believe that the shards belong to their forefathers, the Anasazi, and nobody should remove them from the ground.

Technique

Navajos use the traditional coil-and-pinch method of creating functional pottery. After the potter fires the piece, but before it has cooled, the potter spreads a thin layer of melted pitch from pinon trees over the inside and outside. This technique produces the look and scent that is unique to Navajo pottery.

Change in Function

The arrival of Anglo-run trading posts in the 1880s brought metal and plastic cookware to the Navajos, which reduced their need for functional pottery. Navajo women continued to make pottery in much smaller quantities for ceremonial use.

Famous Artists

In the 1950s, Rose Williams gained fame among museum curators for her exceptional work with traditional Navajo pottery and became the first Navajo potter to break into the museum market. Her daughter, Alice Cling, followed and was one of the first Navajos to sign a pot.

References

• Pottery by American Indian Women
• Pottery Magic: Pottery and Ceramics History -- Indian Pottery