Navasie, Joy aka 2nd Frogwoman

The daughter of Paqua Naha, Joy Navasie was born in 1919. She learned the basics of the traditional Hopi-Tewa way of making pottery at her mother’s side. Joy was most active as a potter from about 1935 to 1995. Like her mother, she signed most of her pots with the frog hallmark, except she drew webbed toes on her frogs while her mother drew short, straight toes with no webs.

Joy’s work was mostly done using black and red on white. Paqua had developed the style in the early 1950s and Joy continued it. The Navasie and Naha families have specialized in white wares ever since. Hopi potters consider the making of white ware to be the most difficult pottery to make. The fire has to be very hot and the pots need more and better protection from smoke and smudging.

Joy made many different types of pottery, from jars, wedding vases and bowls to lidded sugar jars, creamers, bird effigies and lamp bases. Her decorations were inspired by Sikyátki designs with designs for clouds, rain, feathers and parrots among her favorites.

She passed on the family white ware tradition to her children: Leona Navasie, Marianne Navasie, Maynard Navasie, Natelle Lee, Grace Lomahquahu and Loretta Navasie. She also taught her grandson, Charles Navasie.

Joy was awarded the Arizona Indian Living Treasures Award in 1990. She passed on in 2012.

Some Exhibits that featured pieces by Joy

• Elegance from Earth: Hopi Pottery. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. March 24, 2012 – April 6, 2014
• Our Stories: American Indian Art and Culture in Arizona. Heard Museum West. Surprise, Arizona. Opened June 26, 2006
• Home: Native Peoples in the Southwest. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. May 22, 2005
• Passionate Involvement: Recent Acquisitions of the Heard Museum. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. March 10, 2001 – October 2001
• Preview Showing of Feature Artists for 1977-1978 Season. Tanner’s Indian Arts. Scottsdale, Arizona. November 1-5, 1977
• Recent Acquisitions from the Herman and Claire Bloom Collection. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. January 11, 1997 – July 1997
• Rain. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. June 19, 1993 – July 1995