Chavez, Juana

Born in 1916, Juana (Watchinpino) Chavez was a potter from Acoma Pueblo. In the Acoma census rolls she was identified as Juana Watchinpino. Her mother was Cecilia (Sarracino) Watchinpino. Mabel Brown was her sister.

Juana made several different shapes and styles of pottery but what she was most known for were her cow-shaped milk pitchers, with the cow’s open mouth for the spout. Clearly, she catered to the 1950s and 1960s tourist trade on Route 66. Lanmon and Harlow (“The Pottery of Acoma Pueblo”) say that in 1974, she was identified as Jennie Chavez and noted as being an excellent potter.