PUEBLO POTTERY MAKING
By CARL E. GUTHE
The Pueblo of San Ildefonso is a Tewa village of about one hundred people, situated on the east bank of the Rio Grande some twenty miles northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico. San Ildefonso was chosen for the present study because its women have always been skillful potters, and under the wise and friendly encouragement of the authorities of the School of American Research at Santa Fe have of recent years been steadily improving in their work without, however, sacrificing any of their native methods. Furthermore, they make more varieties of pottery than are turned out at any other one village. Last, and in some ways most important, the men of San Ildefonso have for a long time been accustomed to work in the various excavations carried on by the School, cordial relations have been established, the confidence of the Indians has been thoroughly won, and I did not encounter that reticence toward strangers, so characteristic of the Rio Grande Pueblos, because I was known to be a friend of their friends.
To the Pueblo woman pottery making is simply one of the mechanical household tasks, just as dishwashing is among us. Nearly every woman at San Ildefonso is a potter, good, bad, or indifferent. In two cases, at least, women have developed into real artists, and are relieved of other household duties in order to devote their time to pottery making. Each potter of today watched her mother make innumerable pots while she was growing up, and now with a family of her own, she makes pottery just as did her mother. Many steps and small details are carried out for no other reason than that the mother used to do likewise. Obviously every potter has her own technique, which differs slightly from that of others. The daughters in one family work in more nearly the same manner than outsiders, because they all have had the same teacher. In this report the attempt has been made not only to record the essential steps in the making of pottery, but also to note individual variations as an index of the amount of latitude a given process may permit.
Because religion and ceremony play so important a role in the everyday life of the Pueblo Indians, it is certain that there must be involved in the making of pottery and particularly in its decoration, a mass of esoteric beliefs and practises. The Pueblos, however, are so loath to refer in any way to the mystical side of their existence, and, if it is even mentioned, at once become so suspicious, that it seemed best to steer clear of all allusion to such matters. The present report, therefore, confines itself to a description and discussion of the purely technical side of the potter’s art.
The writer is indebted to the staff of the School of American Research, especially to Mr. Kenneth M. Chapman, for the facilities given for and the interest shown in the work; also to the Governor of San Ildefonso, Juan Gonzales, for his cordial coöperation. Of the eight informants used, Maria, wife of Julian Martinez, and Antonita, wife of Juan Cruz Roybal, should specially be mentioned because of their constant patience, and their willingness to answer the many questions which to them must often have seemed absurd. Thanks are also due to the American Museum of Natural History, New York, for the photographs of pottery making at Zuñi (pls. 28-31) which are introduced in this paper for comparative purposes.
PLATE 9