Tafoya, Betty

Betty Tafoya was a potter from Santa Clara Pueblo. Born in 1933, she passed on in 1988. She was an Anglo woman who married into Santa Clara, one of the few Anglo women at Santa Clara to learn how to make pottery the traditional way.

Betty was the wife of Lee Tafoya and mother of Linda Tafoya (Oyenque, Sanchez). Lee was a son of Margaret Tafoya and grandson of Sara Fina Tafoya. Lee learned how to make pottery as he was growing up. Betty learned how from Lee.

Betty and Lee usually worked together but Betty did make some pottery on her own. Usually, though, Lee made the pots, Betty polished them, Lee carved and fired them. They were known for their carved, gunmetal black jars, bowls and plates.

Betty and Lee were included in the 1974 “Seven Families in Pueblo Pottery” exhibit at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.