ABOUT
Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery
For centuries, Pueblo pottery has served not only as a utilitarian art form but also as a powerfully intangible element that sits at the very heart of Pueblo cultures. Whether it exists in the forefront of one person’s life or remains a gentle hum in the background of another, pottery and clay from which it is born are reflected throughout the origins, histories, and homes of Pueblo families and communities
Pueblo pottery vibrates with the stories and experiences of those who made them, as well as the many people who have become a part of their history since then. Centered around contemporary voices coming from Southwest Pueblo communities, this exhibition is a rare opportunity to explore these intrinsic relationships and stories from a first-person perspective.
Recognizing the diverse viewpoints and multiple stories held within and on the walls of these vessels, Grounded in Clay highights just some of the thousands, if not millions, of stories that are contained within and spill forth from these vessels.
Thank you for being here and becoming a part of the history of these beings.
Thank you (English)
Dawaa’eh (Acoma/Laguna Keres)
Naitra (f.)/Wu’e (m.) (Santa Ana Keres)
Naitra (f.)/U’ee (m.) (Cochiti/Santo Domingo Keres)
Naidraa (f.)/u’u hee’ee (m.) (Zia Keres)
Askwali (f.)/ Kwakwhay (m.) (Hopi)
Hoiyú (Piro)
Kú’daawó’háa (Tewa)
Kheurkem (f.)/Haweu (m.) (Sandia Tiwa)
Ta’ah (Taos Tiwa)
Che,na,ho (f.)/ Ta,a (m.) (Picuris Tiwa)
Taykonompa (Towa)
eh’lah:kwa (Zuni)
Gracias (Spanish)
— The Pueblo Pottery Collective
Tesuque jar c. 1870–80. Clay and paint. 15½ x 17 in. (39.4 x 43.2 cm) VF2016.01.08
Contemporary Pueblo Communities of the Southwest
The list below represents historical changes to the names of our Pueblo communities in the American Southwest. Pueblo is a Spanish word meaning “village” or “people,” and we were named as such by Spanish explorers because we lived in permanent homes and practiced intensive agriculture. Our villages and our people were often named for Catholic saints by the explorers, who sought fabled treasure throughout the Southwest. These names, which continued under the United States government, do not take into account our long history, for we had been living in small communities for millennia before the Spanish arrived in 1540. They also do not account for the fact that we had names for ourselves that continue to be used today.
The list shows how we identify our villages (“Where We Are”) in our own Native languages, as well as the current names by which our communities are known by the broader public and the US government (“How We Are Known”). The “How We Are Known” names are the result of old errors in translation, colonization, transliteration, and, more recently, hard-won efforts of reclamation. We share a common history, and many aspects of our cultures are similar, yet each of our Pueblos is unique, with its own stories of origin, systems of governance, and artistic traditions.
— The Pueblo Pottery Collective
| WHO WE ARE (in our own languages) |
HOW WE ARE KNOWN |
|---|---|
| A-tzal-i-é | San Juan de Guadalupe |
| Haak’u | Acoma |
| Halona:wa | Zuni |
| Katshitya | San Felipe |
| K’awaika | Laguna |
| Kewa | Santo Domingo |
| Kha’p’o Owingeh | Santa Clara |
| Kotyit | Cochiti |
| Nanbé Owingeh | Nambé |
| Ohkay Owingeh | Ohkay Owingeh |
| Pin,wel,tah | Picuris |
| P’osuwaegeh Owingeh | Pojoaque |
| P’o Woe-geh Owingeh | San Ildefonso |
| Shirr’whip Tui | Isleta |
| Tamaya | Santa Ana |
| Tay tsu’geh Oweenge | Tesuque |
| Tewa Owingeh/Hopi | Tewa/Hopi |
| Tigua | Ysleta del Sur |
| Ts’iya | Zia |
| Tuah tah | Taos |
| Tuf Sheur Teui | Sandia |
| Walatowa | Jemez |
| WHO WE ARE (in our own languages) | HOW WE ARE KNOWN |
|---|---|
| A-tzal-i-é | San Juan de Guadalupe |
| Haak’u | Acoma |
| Halona:wa | Zuni |
| Katshitya | San Felipe |
| K’awaika | Laguna |
| Kewa | Santo Domingo |
| Kha’p’o Owingeh | Santa Clara |
| Kotyit | Cochiti |
| Nanbé Owingeh | Nambé |
| Ohkay Owingeh | Ohkay Owingeh |
| Pin,wel,tah | Picuris |
| P’osuwaegeh Owingeh | Pojoaque |
| P’o Woe-geh Owingeh | San Ildefonso |
| Shirr’whip Tui | Isleta |
| Tamaya | Santa Ana |
| Tay tsu’geh Oweenge | Tesuque |
| Tewa Owingeh/Hopi | Tewa/Hopi |
| Tigua | Ysleta del Sur |
| Ts’iya | Zia |
| Tuah tah | Taos |
| Tuf Sheur Teui | Sandia |
| Walatowa | Jemez |
This map was modified by Nate Francis (Tewa), School for Advanced Research, for the Pueblo Pottery Collective, based on a map developed at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
About Grounded in Clay
Grounded in Clay, like many great endeavors, came from a multitude of ideas and programs converging over many years. At the core are sixty community curators drawing from the Vilcek Foundation’s and SAR’s Pueblo historic pottery collections to share their stories and cultures. The Vilcek Foundation’s work with Pueblo pottery and museum curation paralleled SAR’s multi-year effort to establish more equitable partnerships with the Native communities whose members created the 12,000 items in the collections of SAR’s Indian Arts Research Center.
The exhibition that opened first in New Mexico on Pueblo land at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is now on exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and by appointment at the Vilcek Foundation in New York City. It will travel extensively before the pottery returns home to these two important collections.
The Indian Arts Research Center (IARC)
The Indian Arts Research Center (IARC) is a division of the School for Advanced Research (SAR). The goal of IARC is to bridge the divide between creativity and scholarship by supporting initiatives and projects in Native American studies, art history, and creative expression that illuminate the intersections of the social sciences, humanities, and arts. This is accomplished by providing fellowship opportunities for artists to engage in uninterrupted creativity; fostering dialogue among artists, researchers, scholars, and community members through seminars and symposia; nurturing future arts and museums professionals through experiential training; and promoting study and exploration of the IARC collection of Southwestern Native American arts.
The Indian Arts Research Center at SAR
The School for Advanced Research (SAR)
The Administration Building at SAR
During its long and colorful history, the School for Advanced Research has reinvented itself several times. Originally founded in 1907 as a center for archaeological research in the Americas, SAR was revitalized in the early 1970s when it relocated to its present 15-acre campus on Santa Fe’s historic east side. Its advanced seminars and resident scholar program in anthropology and related social sciences achieved worldwide recognition, as did the quality of the Southwest Native American art collection housed in SAR’s Indian Arts Research Center. Beginning around 2010, SAR began to reinvent itself yet again. While maintaining its commitment to innovative social science, SAR has pioneered a radically participatory approach to the stewardship of its Native American art collection. It is also expanding and enhancing its educational mission in Santa Fe by offering lectures and salon discussions focused on issues of broad public concern, thus repositioning SAR as a center for creative thought in a region actively exploring new avenues of social and economic development.
The Vilcek Foundation
The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences.
The arts and sciences need diversity to thrive. Diversity sparks dialogue. Diversity propels innovation. Diversity refines ideas. Immigrants from around the world bring diverse perspectives that are crucial to strengthening America’s cultural and scientific communities.
The Vilcek Foundation