Adams, Jeremy

“My mother is one of my biggest inspirations of my pottery.”

The son of Vernida Polacca and great-grandson of Fannie Nampeyo, Jeremy Adams is a Hopi-Tewa potter of the Nampeyo lineage. Born in 1988, he learned how to make pottery through watching and working with his mother as he was growing up.

When he realized just how much he loved working with clay and making pottery, he was hooked. With so few young Hopis learning to make pottery these days, he dedicated himself to keeping the tradition alive as best he could on his own.

Jeremy learned the entire process, from first hunting for and then digging the clay to processing the clay to making something with it and decorating it to finally firing it. He got a lot of pointers along the way: among his aunts are Sadie Adams, Rainy Naha, Reva Polacca, Nyla Sahmie, Rachel Sahmie and Jean Sahmie.