Sahmie, Jean

“Respect and follow the traditional method for it will sustain your livelihood.”

Born in 1948, Jean Sahmie is a Hopi-Tewa potter from the village of Hano on First Mesa on the Hopi Reservation. Her mother was Priscilla Namingha Nampeyo, her father Emerson Namingha. She is the eldest daughter in a family of eight brothers and sisters. Jean has a daughter named Donella and she is grandmother to two wonderful kids, Kaniela and Keanu.

After years of watching and sometimes helping, Jean began seriously working with clay in 1972, working alongside her mother and grandmother (Rachel Namingha Nampeyo), both of whom mentored and influenced her styles, designs and techniques. Jean vividly remembered advice her grandmother gave her “to respect and follow the traditional method for it will sustain your livelihood.” Jean followed that advice closely all her life.

Jean made a whole range of shapes from cylinders to canteens to effigy pots. Her favorite designs include butterflies, migration patterns, bird elements, rain and cloud patterns.

Jean’s work can be found in various galleries, museums, private collections, colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.

Jean was a participant at venues like the Hopi Show at the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts Fair & Market and the Santa Fe Indian Market for years, earning multiple awards at each. In 2014 Jean was declared an “Arizona Living Treasure.”

Jean was given the Hopi name, Sak’Honsee (Tobacco Flower) at birth and that’s how she has signed many of her creations. She also often spelled her name “Sahme” instead of the usual “Sahmie.”

Some Exhibits that featured pieces by Jean

• Elegance from Earth: Hopi Pottery. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. March 24, 2012 – April 6, 2014
• Innovations in Clay: Five Pueblo Potters. Mudd Carr Gallery. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 1986

Some Awards earned by Jean

• 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Traditional pottery, jars, including wedding jars, Category 1201 – Jars, Hopi: Third Place
• 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division F – Traditional pottery, painted designs on matte or semi-matte surface, all forms except jars: Best of Division
• 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division F – Traditional pottery, painted designs on matte or semi-matte surface, all forms except jars, Category 1303 – Vases: First Place