The Grand Canyon of Arizona: How to See It

by George Wharton James

After thoroughly washing, pulverizing and crushing, it is ready to be worked up into domestic and other utensils. Squatted upon the ground, the potter places in her lap a small basket, wood, or pottery base, upon which she places a "dab" of clay. This she thumbs and pats, until it forms the basis of the new vessel. Then another piece of clay is rapidly rolled between her hands, until it is in the form of along rope. This rope is then coiled around the edge of the base already made, pressed well into it and then smoothed down. After four or five coils of clay are thus added, the potter takes a small "spat," generally a piece of dried gourd skin, dips it into water, and proceeds to smooth out and make thin the clay coils. As quickly and dexterously as can be, her hands and the spat manipulate the vessel, until it has the desired shape. More coils of clay are then added, and the shaping continues until the vessel is complete. Now it is put out into the sun to dry, and when reasonably solid, it is ready for the painting and decoration. With a rude brush made of horsehair or yucca fibre, and paints gathered and ground by herself, she works out the design that her imagination has already created and pictured upon her piece of work. Some of these designs represent conventionalized objects of nature—birds, clouds, mountains, rain, corn, lightning, tadpoles, dragon-flies, horned toads, serpents and the like; others are purely geometrical, and the variety and extent of them are more wonderful than any except the experts realize. In a monograph upon the ancient pottery of these people, Dr. Fewkes pictures every known geometrical figure of ancient and modern times, all of which were copied by him from vessels that have been excavated from ancient ruins and graves.

The Pottery of Nampeyo. Every village has its own style of pottery. Among the Hopis, the finest potter is a resident of Tewa or Hano, Nampeyo by name. Her ware is characterized by beauty of shape, perfection of form, dignity and character in design, and a general appearance that is pleasing and artistic. Zuni pottery is of a superior quality to that of Acoma, Laguna, and the other villages near by, and often contains in its designs the deer, with its peculiar red line of throat leading to the heart.

Black Pottery. At Santa Domingo and Santa Clara, pueblos on the Rio Grande, a black ware is produced that is effective and strongly decorative in certain pieces.

Ancient Varieties. Ancient ware, dug from ruins and graves, is exceedingly rare and commands a high price. There are three distinguishable varieties, among others, that denote comparative age. The earliest type is of the corrugated ware, in which the thumb and finger marks, denoting the pressure of the coils, one upon another, are clearly in evidence. Some pottery was made in basket matrices, and marks of the basket are clearly outlined upon the outside of the vessels so made.

The second type is the plain black and white ware, and the third is the red ware painted with black designs.

Both ancient and modern ware, the latter in large variety, may be seen and purchased at the Hopi House.

Navaho Silverware. Of equal interest is the making of silverware by the Navaho peshlikai, or silversmith, whose primitive forge is in the first room entered at the Hopi House.

Fondness for Silver. The innate desire of a primitive people for personal adornment early led the pueblo Indians to a use of metal. When the Spaniards and Mexicans came among them, the iron, brass and copper of the conquerors were soon added to the dried seeds, shell beads, pieces of turquoise and coral they had hitherto used. But silver has ever been their favorite metallic ornament. Long ago they formed an ideal in the Spanish don or Mexican vaquero, with his personal apparel adorned with silver, his horse's bridle trapped out with silver belts, buckles and buttons, and his saddle and its equipment studded with silver nails and other fanciful expressions of adornment. From the Mexican and the pueblo Indian he rapidly picked up the necessary knowledge, and practice soon gave the skill to fashion the silver into every desired shape.

Navahos Used Silver Three Centuries Ago. Cushing contends that the Zunis knew how to smelt metals before the Spanish conquest, but the statement is strongly disputed. There can be no question, however, but that the large use of silver ornaments by both pueblo and Navaho Indians dates from three hundred and fifty years ago, after Coronado's conquistadores had found out that this was no land of gold and precious metals, as was Peru.

In almost every pueblo of Arizona and New Mexico, and in many a Navaho hogan, one may find the primitive silversmith at work. There is no silversmith's shop, but generally in a corner of the quaint pueblo house, or in an adjunct to the Navaho hogan, the worker quietly pursues his important avocation; for in a community whose members have no other metallic arts, the silversmith is an important man, and sees to it that his profession is regarded with the high dignity it deserves.