Ceramic pottery-making industry: July 2010

ARTS WORK Assessment Worksheet

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Assessment Worksheet 3
Print and complete the worksheet. Then assess yourself using the rubric provided. For each pot, check the item that reflects your assessment of your work. Pinch Pot 1. The pot walls are ____uneven, ____fairly even, ____very even. 2. The form of my pot is ____not pleasing, ____somewhat pleasing, ____very pleasing. Explain why you think so. 3. This pot has ____no intended purpose, ____has a purpose, ____has a specific purpose. Explain the designated purpose of your pot. 4. Answer if your pot is fired. There ____are, ____are not cloud spirits on the pot. Coil Pot 1. Pot walls are ____uneven, ____fairly even, ____very even. 2. The form of my pot is ____not pleasing, ____somewhat pleasing, ____very pleasing. Explain why you think so. 3. The coils are ____breaking apart, ____mostly well joined and smooth, ____very well joined and very smooth. 4. This pot has ____no intended purpose, ____has a purpose, ____has a specific purpose. 5. Answer if your pot is fired. There ____are, ____are not cloud spirits on the pot. Slab Pot 1. Pot walls are ____uneven, ____fairly even, ____very even. 2. The form of my pot is ____not pleasing, ____somewhat pleasing, ____very pleasing. Explain why you think so. 3. The slabs are ____breaking apart, ____mostly well joined and smooth, ____very well joined and very smooth. 4. This pot has ____no intended purpose, ____has a purpose, ____has a specific purpose. 5. Answer if your pot is fired. There ____are, ____are not cloud spirits on the pot. If your pots were fired, write a brief reflection on the firing process and what you experienced doing it. If most of your marks are in the first space, you are beginning in your potmaking skills. If most of your marks are in the second space, your pots are competent. If most of your marks are in the last space, your pots are exceptional.

ARTS WORK Vocabulary

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Vocabulary
coil - the process of forming a pot from rope-like rolls of clay carefully joined together clay - bis - a combination of decomposed rock including silica (sand) and alumina along with various minerals and decomposed matter cloud spirit (fireclouds) - the marks made on the surface of a pot during the firing process filet - bi'yo - a thin coil of clay applied below the lip of the pot fire - the process of placing the pots in a kiln and "firing" to a high enough temperature that the clay becomes ceramic greenware - clay pots which are air dried, but not yet fired kiln - the furnace in which pots are fired knead - to work the damp clay with the palms of the hands against a smooth surface (like working bread or cookie dough) to make the clay uniform in consistency leather hard - the stage of drying when the clay is no longer workable by hand pinch - the process of forming the clay by pinching it between the fingers to form the pot score - to make a series of shallow grooves in the edges of the clay to join two parts securely slab - the process of forming a pot from pieces of clay rolled or patted to even thickness and cut and joined to make the desired pot form

WORK SHEET

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Worksheet 1

Print and complete the worksheet. Then assess yourself using the rubric provided.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NAVAJO POTTERY
After looking at the Navajo pottery at the two websites, complete this worksheet.
1. Generally, what color does the clay used become when fired?

2. What kinds of decoration do you see on the pots?

3. How would you describe the shapes of the pots?

4. What different purposes might these pots have been used for?

5. In what ways does this pottery seem like other pottery you have seen?

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC FOR CHARACTERISTICS OF NAVAJO POTTERY

Reading the answers on your worksheet, decide which level you have achieved as described below.
1. You can identify the characteristic forms of Navajo pots.
Beginning:
You make a limited attempt to describe the pots, answering in single words or brief phrases.
Competent:
You use complete sentences to accurately describe the pots, mentioning their colors, shapes, and kinds of decorations.
Advanced:
You describe the characteristics of the pots in detail, noting how it is the same as or different from other pottery you have seen.
2. You can discuss the purpose for which various kinds of pots are made.
Beginning:
You name one or two purposes for which Navajo pots are made.
Competent:
You name or describe several purposes for which Navajo pots are made.
Advanced:
You describe the purposes for which Navajo pots are made in some detail.
3. You can explain the differences between traditional and newer forms of Navajo pottery and the reasons for these differences.
Beginning:
You don't find any differences.
Competent:
You explain two or more differences (in styles, in technology, in purpose, etc.) between traditional and newer forms of Navajo pottery.
Advanced:
You explain in detail the reasons for the differences between traditional and newer forms of Navajo pottery.

ignment 1

ASSIGNMENT 1

After reading the Introduction to Some Well Known Nanajo Potters, write a short paper reporting information about Navajo potters, their role in the community, the similarities and differences among the styles of the various potters.
Check your paper against the Assessment guide. Make what corrections you think important.

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC OF NAVAJO POTTERS PAPER

Pottery Information
Beginning:
You name two or more Navajo potters. You match two or more names with images of their pots.
Competent:
You can name all the potters and tell something about each of them. You match all but one or two of the potters and images correctly.
Advanced:
You name all the potters and give some details about them and their lives. You matech all of the potters and their images correctly.
Writing Conventions
Beginning:
Your writing demonstrates little control of standard writing conventions and has frequent, significant errors that impede readability, such as: punctuation and spelling errors, incorrect punctuation, errors in grammar and usage.
Competent:
Your writing demonstrates control of standard writingconventions (e.g., punctuation, spelling, capitalization, paragraph breaks, grammar and usage).
Advanced:
Your writing demonstrates strong control of standard writing conventions (e.g., punctuation, spelling, capitalization, paragraph breaks, grammar and usage)and uses them effectively to enhance communication. Errors are so few and so minor that they do not impede readability.

Assignment 2
Print and complete the worksheet. Then assess yourself using the rubric provided. This is a homework activity to be completed out of school. It is also an experiment that may or may not succeed, so be prepared for some surprises. 1. In any local area where there is sometimes water, collect small quantities of clay, placing the samples in reclosable sandwich bags. Look for earthen material that is not "dirt" but has a relatively fine texture if dry. It will usually have a gray or slightly reddish color. 2. Label each bag with the location in which the material was found. 3. If there is no local source of clay (a rather unusual situation) use a dry sample of commercial clay. Crush it and place it in the sandwich bag. 4. Now add a few drops of water to the sample in each bag and squeeze the closed bag to mix the clay with water. Add water slowly, a few drops at a time, until the material is damp and, hopefully, holds together like cookie dough. 5. Keep a record of your observations. Decide whether each sample seems to be clay that sticks together and can be formed when damp or does it simply get wet and not stick together? 6. For each sample, write up your observations on the worksheet attached. WORKSHEET 2. CLAY SAMPLES Sample # ____ 1. Where did you collect this sample? Describe the location. 2. What color is the sample? 3. What is the texture of the sample? How does it feel when dry? 4. Describe what happened when you added water to the sample? 5. Do you think this sample is clay? or common dirt? Why? Sample # ____ 1. Where did you collect this sample? Describe the location. 2. What color is the sample? 3. What is the texture of the sample? How does it feel when dry? 4. Describe what happened when you added water to the sample? 5. Do you think this sample is clay? or common dirt? Why? Sample # ____ 1. Where did you collect this sample? Describe the location. 2. What color is the sample? 3. What is the texture of the sample? How does it feel when dry? 4. Describe what happened when you added water to the sample? 5. Do you think this sample is clay? or common dirt? Why? Sample # ____ 1. Where did you collect this sample? Describe the location. 2. What color is the sample? 3. What is the texture of the sample? How does it feel when dry? 4. Describe what happened when you added water to the sample? 5. Do you think this sample is clay? or common dirt? Why? Repeat for each additional sample. ASSESSMENT RUBRIC FOR CLAY SAMPLES WORKSHEET You can explain what clay is and describe some of its physical and chemical properties. Beginning: Answers to the questions are incomplete. Few samples are collected and/or reported on. Competent: Answers to the questions are complete and accurate. Several samples are collected and reported on. Advanced: Answers to the questions are complete, accurate, and detailed. Many samples are collected and reported on.

Assignment 3
Print and complete the worksheet. Then assess yourself using the rubric provided. Visit the linked sites about pottery making and clay and also search the internet for other "clay" and "pottery" sites. You will want to bookmark URL addresses that you may want to return to later in this unit. Bookmark all that look interesting to you. That will make it easier to find them later. Prepare a report on what you have found by: 1. recording the URL (web address) and name of the sites you have used in this report, 2. reporting on what you have learned about clay. Answer these questions. 2.1 What are the main ingredients in clay and what purpose does each kind serve? 2.2 What materials raise the firing temperature of clay? 2.3 What materials lower the firing temperature of clay? 2.4 What materials make the clay smooth and sticky? 2.5 What happens to the clay when it is fired? ASSESSMENT RUBRIC FOR CLAY REPORT You can explain what clay is and describe some of its physical and chemical properties. Pottery Ideas Beginning: You name the basic ingredients of clay. You name two or three physical or chemical properties of clay. Competent: You name and describe the basic ingredients in clay and how the combinations of these ingredients produce different kinds of clay. You name more than three physical and/or chemical properties of clay. You tell about the effect of firing upon clay. Advanced: You describe the basic ingredients in clay and how different clay formulas produce different clay bodies. You describe in detail the physical and chemical properties in clay. You describe in detail the effect of firing upon clay. Writing Conventions Beginning: Your writing demonstrates little control of standard writing conventions and has frequent, significant errors that impede readability, such as: punctuation and spelling errors, incorrect punctuation, errors in grammar and usage. Competent: Your writing demonstrates control of standard writing conventions (e.g., punctuation, spelling, capitalization, paragraph breaks, grammar and usage). Advanced: Your writing demonstrates strong control of standard writing conventions (e.g., punctuation, spelling, capitalization, paragraph breaks, grammar and usage)and uses them effectively to enhance communication. Errors are so few and so minor that they do not impede readability.

ARTS WORK LESSON 5 Navajo Firing

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Firing Pots in the Navajo Way

In this lesson you will:

finish and fire pots in the Navajo way. (optional)
(This is a development of standard 1AV-P1)

ACTIVITY:

First you will need to get permission to fire your garbage can kiln on school property or outside at home. Any open area on a sandy or dirt surface away from any combustible materials will do. You will need to drill holes at 6" intervals in the sides and lid of a small galvanized garbage can. For fuel you will use dried sheep, cow or horse dung mixed with sawdust. Read more about various primitive firing methods (http://art.sdsu.edu/ceramicsweb/articles/primitive.html). For fun, name your kiln. Alan Jim calls his "Rosie." The students at Leupp School named theirs "Puffer."

Load the kiln and light as early in the morning as possible. You will put a layer of mixed fuel (about half dung and half sawdust – the mixture is not critical) on the bottom of the can to a depth of about 10 inches. Then add one or more pots and cover with more fuel. Continue this process until the pots are all places and covered with about 10 more inches of fuel. You will light the fuel in several places around the top of the can. Then place the lid very loosely over the top. Don't fit it in place! The fuel should smolder with wisps of smoke rising from the kiln. Check your kiln at the end of day. What you should find is your pots nestled in a bed of gray ashes. If it hasn't totally burnt down, be sure that you have some means of protecting the kiln overnight. Next day, unload the pots. Prepare for a final critique using the artmaking criteria from Lesson 4 as the basis for your discussion. Look especially for the cloud spirits on the pots.
Do your pots demonstrate controlled skill and craftsmanship, and a sensitivity to form and function? Do a final assessment of your pots evaluating each for:

Recheck the Assessment Worksheet
If most of your marks are in the first space, you are beginning in your potmaking skills. If most of your marks are in the second space, your pots are competent. If most of your marks are in the last space, your pots are exceptional.
This is an optional assignment since it may not be possible for you to do this at your school, but if you can you will be firing your pots in the Navajo way.

PRINT AND VIDEO RESOURCES:

Nigrosh, Leon. 1986, Claywork: Form and Idea in Ceramic Design. Davis Publications, Inc.: Worcester, MA.
Hartman, Russell and J. Musial. 1987, Navajo Pottery: Traditions and Innovations. Northland Publishing: Flagstaff AZ.

OPTIONAL ACTVITIES

Here are some additional activities related to other subject areas that you might want to explore.
Math

Weigh and measure pots when they are wet, dry, and after firing.

Geography

Locate places around the reservation or around the globe where certain types of pots have been made by native peoples.

Language Arts

Social Studies

Develop a marketing plan to sell student made pots.

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Three Basic Pottery Techniques

In this lesson you will:

ACTIVITY ONE: PREPARING YOUR CLAY

The first thing you need to do before making pots is to prepare your clay. Clay often has air bubbles trapped in it. The air in these bubbles will expand when the clay is exposed to heat. Shortly the pot will explode. Also, there may be wetter or dryer spots in the clay. These must be mised to develop a uniform consistency throughout the clay.
Knead your clay on a hard smooth surface like a table top which is covered with a piece of canvas to prevent the clay from sticking to the table. The process is just like kneading bread or cookie dough. Work with a chunk of clay that more than fills your two hands. Gather the clay into a ball and work it by pushing the clay away from you with the heels of your hands. Then fold the clay back on itself and repeat this process until the clay feels uniform in texture and wetness and forms a smooth ball. Here are photos of Alan Jim as he kneads his clay.

ACTIVITY TWO: MAKING A PINCH POT

From your kneaded clay, twist off a piece the size of a baseball. Pat it into a smooth sphere. When you have a smooth ball, push your thumb into the center of the ball. Then, pinch the clay gently between your thumb and forefinger as you rotate the ball in the palm of your hand. See the photos for a better idea of how to do this.

Slowly stretch the clay into the shape of pot you desire. If the surface of the clay becomes too dry, it will begin to crack. If this happens, dip your fingers into a container of water and smooth the surface. Too much water will cause your clay to get too soft and the shape of your pot will become wobbly! Keep turning shaping the clay until the walls of your pot are even in thickness, about 1/4 inch thick, and the shape of your pot is pleasing to you. See the photos below for examples of wetting the pot.
When the pot is finished, put it aside to dry. When it is leather hard you may want to add designs to the surface. When it is completely dry your pot is calledgreenware and is ready to fire. You can test it by placing the pot to your cheek. If it no longer feels cold, it is ready to fire.

ACTIVITY THREE: MAKING A COIL POT

To make a coil pot you will need to prepare several coils of clay. These are made by gently rolling clay back and forth on a canvas covered surface, stretching it outward as you roll, until you have a coil of uniform thickness of about 1 to 1 1/2 inches. The length of the coils need not be uniform.

Make the base of your pot by making a spiral from one coil, pressing the sides of the coils closely together and smoothing inside and out to make a smooth base of uniform thickness. Begin building up the vertical walls of the pot by adding one coil at a time, carefully joining each coil to the one below it by smoothing with your thumb. Coils should become invisible as you build a smooth and uniform pot with a pleasing shape. If you do not join your coils carefully, the coils will separate as the clay dries and your pot will fall into a series of clay circles. See the photos for an idea of how the pot might look.

Some potters leave the coil design visible on the outside of their pot as a design element. They do make sure that the inside of the pot is smooth and the coils are securely joined.
When the pot is finished, put it aside to dry. When it is leather hard you may want to add designs to the surface. When it is completely dry your pot is calledgreenware and is ready to fire. You can test it by placing the pot to your cheek. If it no longer feels cold, it is ready to fire.

ACTIVITY FOUR: MAKING A SLAB POT

For making a slab pot, you will need a rolling pin and two flat sticks about 3/8 to 1/2 inches thick. Rulers or yardsticks are possible substitutions. You will be rolling your clay out by placing the sticks as far apart as the width of the rolling pin and rolling the clay between the sticks. These sticks determine the thickness of the clay slabs.

As an alternative you can roll and stretch the clay as if it were pizza crust! The objective is to make the slab of clay of uniform thickness.

You will need to plan the shape of your pot. Slab construction is useful for making box shapes. You may also make a circular base. You may want to make a paper pattern before cutting your clay.
From your slabs you will cut the base of the pot, using a straightened paper clip or a table know and a ruler (if you wish to make straight edges).

When you have cut your base and sides you will join them with a process of scoring. Using a paper clip or pencil, scratch across hatched lines into the edges to be joined. Use very wet clay, the consistency of yogurt, smearing it into the scored surface and then press the edges together securely. This wet clay is called slip. Smooth the extra slip away, making sure your pieces are securely joined. See the photos for ideas.

When the pot is finished, put it aside to dry. When it is leather hard you may want to add designs to the surface. When it is completely dry your pot is call greenware and is ready to fire. You can test it by placing the pot to your cheek. If it no longer feels cold, it is ready fire.

ARTS WORK LESSON 3 Philosophy

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The Philosophy of Navajo Pottery Making

In this lesson you will:

learn about the philosophy underlying the making of Navajo pottery. (This meets standard 2AV-P2)

The lecture below was given by Alan Jim, a Navajo man who teaches pottery at Greyhills Academy High School in Tuba City. Read his lecture as an introduction to Navajo philosophy.
"There are two versions about the history of Navajo pottery, just like you hear two versions about how the Navajo came to be. They say that we came from Lake Athabasca and followed the mountain ranges down to here. That is the archaeologists' version. And then you hear the Navajo oral history which says that the Navajo came from Mother Earth -- the emergence story. What I want to talk about is the oral story of Navajo pottery that comes from a book called Navajo Pottery. It says that the Hero Twins, the children of First Man and First Woman, were given the responsibility of watching the dam that held back the water and the irrigation ditches that they had back then, against attack by the Pueblo people. And as they were watching and playing with the mud which actually was clay, one of the Hero Twins fashioned a plate, then a bowl and a dipper. (This was taken from research done by a man called Haile going way back who took down the oral history at that time.) The other Hero Twin fashioned a wicker water bottle. So this is the oral history of where pottery came from.
"Now this is just a little background. Today, the archaeologists say that we borrowed pottery making from the Pueblo people, just as they say that we learned the weaving from them. But the Navajo people say that the Spiderwoman taught us weaving. So this is a conflict that you might want to discuss with your students.
"One of the things that you will find in art, and some of you might have experienced this, is that once you have made the piece, you were really hard on yourself. 'Boy, I don't know, this is a pretty ugly pot here.' But the Navajo view the pot as being more than a physical shape that comes to us. There are certain responsibilities that go along with making the pot, certain things that go along with this pot. There is a relationship between the artist and his or her pot--and some of you may have felt this while you were working with this clay.

Do you remember when you were a little kid and it rained and you went out and stepped in this mud, and your mother said, 'Get out of there. You are all muddy.' You'd come home and say, 'Look Mom, I've got a mud pack all over my face.' Some of you probably were reminded by the smell of a time when you were young and there was a favorite swimming hole and it brought back that really good feeling. Also, this is a sense of connection with Mother Earth. We've got a part of her and we did something really sacred. The Navajos, their philosophy about creation.
"I recently took my upper division students to a couple who are Navajo potters up near Cow Springs, Silas Claw and his wife Bertha. And he told us some of the things that Navajo people talk about with their pottery. He said that to be able to get a piece of dirt and to shape it into something is sacred. To have a thought and make it into a creation is almost like how a baby is formed and develops inside its mother. It is almost nothing, then the womb starts to bring forth this life. So, you too, as creator, make something out of nothing and that is very sacred. So, I want you to think about pottery in this sense. And so as we go through this process of creating pottery they say that we go through a creation that is both male and female. The way I was told is that when we take clay we want to give a little something back to Mother Earth for this precious gift of the clay. Some of the things we can do is bless ourselves down, a prayer or a song is offered. The objects to be used are blessed. One of the things that is offered as a gift to that area.
"The clay then is in a rock hard form. When you find the clay it is kind of like finding yourself and developing yourself. Silas said that sometimes when they find the clay, it isn't ready to form. They have to work with the clay, have to add things to it, have to take things from it. After they crush it they pass it through a filtering system. It is kind of like a cleansing process. It gives you a chance to reevaluate yourself: 'Well, I don't need this, I don't need that part of my life.' Clay is the same way with all the impurities. What we might need to do--and what Silas said--is he went over to the highway construction yard and got some really fine black cinder and added it to the clay and that is what gave the clay the body to stand up. So this is probably what is needed for this clay. It is what in ceramics is called grog. You will see that some Navajo people get little pieces of pottery and add to their clay. That helps the clay to get more sticky and strengthens the body. So, we filter out all the impurities and add what is needed for strength, as we do in our lives.

"The next thing they do is they wet the clay down. When you work with the clay and you have a lump of clay -- just as a painter would do with a blank piece of canvas -- in your mind just millions and millions of electrodes are firing off. We call it brainstorming. In the Navajo way we say that part of the creation is inside, in our mind, it is the imagination. It is the female part of you and given to you by the creator. It is a gift. So, once you have figured out what you are going to make, what do you do? You roll out the clay or you pinch it or coil it. Once you have begun that process we say that is the male part of creativity. Male and female always. You're doing the male part when you make the pots. Now, one thing you have to find is that it is you and the clay. Some of you may have gotten the clay too wet. What happens when clay gets too wet? It gets like a wet noodle. You stand it up and it flops around. Just kind of flops around. Or, if your clay gets too dry, it becomes too stiff to work, it cracks, we become frustrated. But, again, you have to find that balance in life. Once you get that balance and allow the clay to work with you, then the beauty starts, the creation happens. As I have watched Navajo potters, they really take their time once they set one coil on there, checking all the way around, making sure it is smoothed out, making sure the clay is the same thickness all around, not too thick, not too thin, that it is nice and consistent. So, again, that reflects on life. finding that fine line of balance.

"Everything is done the way it was taught about life -- a life that has smoothness. It is the same way in pottery -- once you find that smoothness, you have harmony and balance. The offering of prayers and songs make life a little bit easier, especially when someone is challenging you.
"If you have done everything that was told to you to achieve balance, then the true test of life is the process that in pottery we call firing. Some of my students will say, 'When are we going to burn our pots, or bake our pots?' The proper terminology is 'firing.' So firing is the test whether you have walked in balance with your clay. If you have walked in balance with it, everything is consistent; it is just great. The test is the firing; the pot should come out just beautiful. A lot of you have gone to the trading post and seen that most of the Southwest people make pots. I'm going to pass this pot around. Feel the thickness, the smooth surface, no cracks. Once we have gone through the firing, we know that we can withstand the test--that your virtues are intact.

"Here, in the pot, in the Navajo way, they say that four of the elements water, earth, fire and air are in the firing. Water and earth in the clay, air and fire in the firing. All four are important to the creation of the pot. So, if you look, you may see that some pots are blessed by the Creator and you will get these black marks which are called by the Navajo "fireclouds".

So they say this is a very sacred blessing. Hopefully, some of you will be blessed with these marks on your pot. I want you to experience the wholeness of what pottery has to offer you, teaching about life. You, in that sacred manner. Silas once told us during the time we visited him, he said one of the things potters do, if you have your pieces out and they are still in production, if someone comes to your door and knocks, they are not to see your pots. You must put them all away, but once they are inside, visiting, get a piece of the wet clay and bless them. Give them a piece of Mother Earth. So, even the potter holds this in reverence, with sincerity. This is just a little something that I wanted you to have before we go outside to test your pots, to fire them.

ARTS WORK LESSON 2 Clay

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In this lesson you will:

explain what clay is and describe some of its physical and chemical properties. (This is an introduction to Standard 1AV-P1)

Clay is a natural material. It is found all over the world on river and lake banks and, in fact, anywhere that the ancient action of wind, water, ice and the movement of earth's surface have crushed rock and mixed it with silica and alumina along with a variety of minerals and organic materials. Long ago people found that soft damp clay could be shaped by hand into a variety of useful forms that became permanent when placed in a fire for a period of time. This process of turning clay into a permanent ceramic object is called firing. Clays found in different locations may have very different characteristics. They may be different colors, have more or less sand or other gritty material in them, which makes them smoother or rougher textured and can affect the temperature at which they fire. Some clays are sticky and some barely hold together as they are shaped.

Now you should start the homework Assignment 2 and completeWorksheet 2.

Today clay is made from raw chemical materials by ceramic supply companies. These clays are mixed to provide predictable temperatures for firing and predictable colors and textures. Contemporary potters will buy their clay from companies that specialize in mixing clays of different kinds for specific purposes. More information about clay and how to work with it can be found on the following sites: Ceramic King and New Mexico Clay Company Inc. (http://www.nmclay.com/), Tucker's Pottery Supply (http://www.tuckerspottery.com), and Clay Times (http://www.claytimes.com). On this last site you will find lots of information on various clay tools and kilns.

Brad Sondahl (http://sondahl.com/) has a very complete site with links to do more research on questions you may have about clay and how to use it as an art material.

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INTRODUCTION TO NAVAJO POTTERY AND ITS MAKERS

In this lesson you will:

A LOOK AT NAVAJO POTTERY AND WHERE IT IS MADE

Navajo potters have traditionally made pots that are beautiful and useful. They are guided by certain cultural and spiritual beliefs about the proper ways to make and fire pots. There are important stories about the origins of potmaking among the people. While pottery follows silversmithing and rugweaving in popularity among the art forms made by Navajo people, it holds an important place in the history of the people. Many people, both men and women, make and sell their pottery. These objects may be very traditional in Navajo design or they may be adaptations of ideas from other Native American traditions or from mainstream styles. They may use all natural materials and fire in an outdoor pit or they may purchase clays and glazes and use modern electric kilns and other manufactured tools and materials.

Before you learn more about Navajo pottery, explore a bit about the Navajo Nation: where it is and what the natural world is like there. The Navajo Nation is found in the Northeast corner of Arizona and actually encompasses parts of adjacent Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Check out the maps (http://www.lapahie.com/Navajo_Map_Sh.cfm). Click on the map to get a larger view. For the most part, the Navajo Nation is comprised of high desert where temperatures can shift from very hot to very cold over the course of a few hours.

For the most part, the Navajo Nation is comprised of high desert where temperatures can shift from very hot to very cold over the course of a few hours. There is snow in the winter, but the sun usually melts it during the daytime. Spring storms bring much needed moisture to the land. In the summer it is quite dry and the wind can blow fiercely, raising clouds of red sand into the air. The altitude is above 7000 feet. There are canyons and plateaus, mesas and washes. Juniper, pinon, and sagebrush are the main plants. Other kinds of plants can be found as well. These plants are used for medicines, for dyes for wool used in weaving and for food. Rabbits, deer, mule deer, timberwolves, coyotes, and mountain lions live in close range. Beneath the mesas are coal and uranium which is much prized by utility companies and which generates income for the tribe, but these minerals lie beneath grazing land and sites sacred to the Navajo people. The action of wind and water over the land has created rich and varied deposits of clay all over the reservation. This natural material has been well used for making pottery. The effects of weather on the land over eons has produced rich deposits of clays that are collected and used by the people for making their pottery. Potters learn to recognize good clay from looking at it, touching it, smelling it, and even from tasting it.

Traditional life on the reservation would be considered a hard life by most of us. The traditional Navajo people lived then and many continue now to live a certain lifestyle. It is based in a belief that they belong to the earth. The earth does not belong to humans. It is the responsibility of humans to protect the earth, to give back to it for everything we take from it. People pray to the East each morning that they will have good thoughts and remain in harmony with their surroundings. The day is spent planting corn and squash, and hoeing weeds. Food must be hunted, grown or gathered with good intention. In earlier days there was less dependence on commercial products. People were more self-reliant. Families worked hard at home together.

There was no television, no telephone, no movies or even radio. People traveled a long distance by foot, horse, or wagon to visit neighbors, relatives or the trading post. These trips might take many hours or days. Still today many families living on the land do not have running water, electricity, central heating or phones in their homes.

Women play a different role in Navajo culture than they do in many others. They are the caretakers. A woman maintains and passes down the traditional values to the next generation. She makes the important decisions. It is a matrilineal society, meaning, for one thing, that when a woman marries, her husband comes to live with her family on her land. He may bring some sheep, his horse or pickup truck, but the land and the herds and all important decisions relating to them are the responsibility of the woman. Children are born to the mother's clan. Relationships are traced back first through the woman's clans. Women were, and still continue to be, important leaders in their world.

Originally, and until the late 1800s when the railroad was built through Navajo lands and trading posts were established, women made pottery primarily for home use. They made cooking pots and bowls a variety of storage containers. They also made pipes and other objects for ceremonial purposes. When the trading posts brought in glass jars, metal cooking pots, and crockery of various kinds the need for making these things decreased. As a result, the quality of pottery declined as fewer people perfected the craft.

In the 1960s, as new markets for traditional crafts expanded, Navajo potters began to produce pots for the tourists and collectors of Indian art. One trader, Bill Beaver, of the Sacred Mountain Trading Post, located northeast of Flagstaff AZ on Highway 89A has been particularly important in bringing Navajo pottery into the mainstream. He has encouraged potters to make different forms and styles that can be identified as the work of particular artists. Though potters were traditionally women, many men now make pottery as well.

Navajo pottery does not have the refinement of the pottery of some other tribes of the Southwest. But it plays an important role in Navajo culture and the processes used to make it are common to the handbuilding techniques used by potters all over the world. To view some examples of Navajo pottery visit the Foutz Trading Post (http://www.foutzrug.com/pottery/) and the Shiprock Trading Post (http://www.ShiprockTrading.com/)

Now, complete Worksheet 1.

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOME WELL KNOWN NAVAJO POTTERS

Read the following. Then you will be asked to write a report.

There are a number of well-known Navajo potters living and working on the Navajo Nation. Some of them makes pots for a living, others have other jobs and make pots in addition to their other work. Below are brief introductions to several potters. Read the introduction, check out the website or photograph of the potter's pots, and be prepared to write a short paper about these artists.

Alice Cling (http://www.chimayoarts.com/navajo.htm) has developed a very contemporary style. Notice the evidence of the fire cloud on her pot. She lives in the Shonto area between Tuba City and Kayenta and works at the elementary school as an instructional aide.

She learned to make pottery when she was a girl. Her mother, another prominent potter taught her. She adds very little decoration to her pots, but depends on graceful shapes, highly polished surfaces, and distinctive square top opening to make a beautiful pot.

Jimmy Wilson (http://www.swshopmall.com/
premier-bin/shop.pl/page=ntrad-pot-gr.html/SID=380521825) lives right by Leupp Public School in Leupp AZ. He and his wife make pots with Navajo images from Creation stories drawn on their surface and sometimes colored. Wilson makes shallow, incised (carved in) geometric designs of Navajo holy people on his pots. He also makes appliqued designs on some of his pots.

Betty Manygoats often decorates her pots with horned toads.

The horned toad is believed to be Grandfather, the Creator, in animal form. As such, he is thought to bring good luck to us.

Faye Tso is an important elder in the Tuba City area. In addition to making pots she is a medicine woman who heals with herbs and ceremonies. Her pots are quite large and she makes designs on some of them with thin coils of clay that she presses on the surface of the pot to create images from Navajo stories. She also makes dishes in animal forms.

Her husband and many of her children and grandchildren also make pots.

Bertha and Silas Claw live between Tuba City and Kayenta. They introduced the idea of using paints on the appliqued designs. Bertha usually makes the pot forms and Silas adds the applique work. Applique is the process of adding figures of corn, sheep, etc. to the surface of the pot using slip (a very liquid form of clay) as a kind of glue. They make pots that include images that reflect holidays like Halloween and Christmas, as well as more traditional Navajo images of hogans and sheep. They use clay from a location not used by other potters in the area. You will read more about them and their work in the lesson on the the philosophy of Navajo pottery.

You should now be ready to complete Assignment 1 by writing the report about Navajo potters.

Ceramic pottery-making industry

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