Leno, Juana

Juana Leno (born Juana Louis Vallo at Acoma Pueblo) (1917-2000) was the daughter of Lupita Vallo, granddaughter of Eulilia Vallo. Her Keres name was Syo ee mee (meaning: Turquoise). She learned how to make pottery through watching and working with her grandmother as she grew up. Juana was producing pottery for the marketplace when she was in her early twenties. She was a contemporary of Lucy M. Lewis, Marie Z. Chino and Jessie Garcia.

Juana liked to make polychrome and black-on-white jars, bowls, canteens, duck pots, owl figures, nativities and storytellers. She was one of the earliest potters to paint Mimbres Revival designs on her pieces.

Juana was a participant at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the New Mexico State Fair and the Gallup InterTribal Ceremonial for more than 20 years, earning multiple ribbons at each. However, she was a very quiet and unassuming woman who enjoyed making pottery so much she devoted part of almost every day to it. She was known for the high quality of her work but she much preferred staying home and working with her daughters to going out in the marketplace. Her work was so good the dealers came to her home in Acomita to buy pots, she didn’t go to them.

As they were growing up, Juana passed her knowledge and techniques on to her daughters, Regina Leno-Shutiva, Joyce Leno-Barreras, Rose Leno, Marie Leno, Phyllis Leno, Isabel Leno and Rose Leno Chavez. Today, Juana is considered one of the four matriarchs of modern Acoma pottery.