Tafoya, Lee

Lee Tafoya was a potter from Santa Clara Pueblo. Born in 1926, he passed on in 1996. He was the husband of Betty Tafoya and father of Linda Tafoya (Oyenque, Sanchez). Lee was a son of Margaret Tafoya and grandson of Sara Fina Tafoya. Lee learned how to make pottery as he was growing up. He was Margaret’s only son who took up making pottery. Betty, an Anglo woman, learned how to make pottery from Lee, after he returned to Santa Clara at the end of World War II.

Betty and Lee usually worked together but both did make some pottery on their own. Usually, though, Lee made the pots, Betty polished them, Lee carved and fired them. They were known for their carved, gunmetal black jars, bowls and plates.

Betty and Lee were included in the 1974 “Seven Families in Pueblo Pottery” exhibit at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.