By Andrew Somerville
Ancient, traditional, handmade, and personal are rare attributes of material objects today. Hopi and Hopi-Tewa pottery fits this description. One family is famous for carrying this tradition with great skill and imagination: the descendants of Nampeyo of Hano.
Nampeyo of Hano was born in Hano village on the First Mesa. Her mother was White Corn (Qӧtsaqa ̉ӧ), a Tewa person of the Corn Clan, from the Hano village. Her father, Qotsvema, a Hopi person of the Snake Clan, came from Walpi village on the First Mesa. According to Northern Arizona University's “Indigenous Voices of the Colorado Plateau” exhibit, First Mesa is one of several southward mesa projections protruding from one larger, finger-like geologic formation. Nampeyo was born during an unstable time for the Hopi mesa area. Disruptive visits from outsiders increased dramatically, the United States government was attempting forced assimilation of the Hopi, and commercial tourism reached into Hopi land via a Grand Canyon rail line and automobile routes.
According to Mary Ellen and Laurence Blair’s book, “The Legacy of a Master Potter — Nampeyo and Her Descendants,” it is likely that Nampeyo learned to make pottery from her Hopi grandmother, observing ceramics skills from an early age. The Blairs also state it is likely she didn’t begin to work seriously in pottery until 1883, after the birth of her child, Kwetcawe or Qotsawe, also known as Annie. But her most artistically prolific period was from about 1879 to 1912. Nampeyo is most known for her bold designs inspired by those on pottery or shards at abandoned prehistoric settlements around the Hopi mesas. Her husband, Lesou or Lesso, was very supportive of her work, copying prehistoric designs he found onto paper for her to study and helping her with obtaining raw materials. Her ornamentation combined the prehistoric with her own active imagination, full of fluid, energetic designs, and internationally recognized and re-popularized ancient themes or motifs. Nampeyo had glaucoma and continued to make incredible pottery while losing her eyesight, concentrating on the forms of her pottery rather than the painted designs. Eventually she became completely blind.
Fannie, or Popong-Mana, was the last child born to Nampeyo, around 1900. She didn’t start pottery work until later in life after she married, and she began by first helping to decorate, then form, her mother’s pots. Differing slightly from her mother’s, Fannie’s pottery designs are highly controlled or precise and tend to feature fine line work. the Blairs describe her artistic style as “meticulous” and largely credit her with passing on Nampeyo’s pottery skills. She apparently instructed at least seven of her children and seventeen of her grandchildren. She encouraged their exploration away from traditional designs.
Thomas Polacca, son of Fannie, was born in 1935 in the village of Polacca, below the First Mesa. He is known for radically departing from traditional Hopi designs in his pottery while keeping a Hopi cultural essence to his work. He carved and cut designs into his clay pots and used wild mustard to make some of them resemble wood, with inlaid turquoise in some pieces.
Delmar Polacca, son of Thomas Polacca, born in 1959, continues his father’s style by using bold cuts and carvings of Hopi scenes and designs into his pottery. Delmar has added his own beautiful and difficult innovation: marbling red and light clay in the same pot. He has inherited a beautiful tradition built by successive generations, influenced by ancient roots that have survived great challenges, just like the peoples and cultures that carry it.
Visit Delmar and other Indigenous artists at the 2026 Prescott Indian Arts Market held at Sharlot Hall Museum, from 9 am to 5 pm, September 19 and 9 am to 4 pm, September 20. For more information see sharlothallmuseum.org/event-calendar/
“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.